Dragon Age: Vanguard
by leonia42
Summary: Liao Mahariel and the few Fereldan Wardens that serve as her soldiers and closest friends must reach out to the remaining Wardens across Thedas and begin to prepare for war.
1. Chapter 1  Coronation

Liao adjusted the buckle clasps of her gauntlets and sighed softly to herself. She glanced back at her reflection in the looking glass. The young woman staring back at her had small, dark emeralds for eyes. Her hair was bound in several small braids and looked as neat as it was likely to ever get. Though her pointed ears were concealed by a layer of light brown hair, her facial features (particularly the clan tattoos) gave her away as a Dalish elf.

Normally Liao took pride in her heritage but recently had come to feel rather awkward about it. The human palace at Denerim kept her isolated from the city elves of the local Alienage. However, the large stone fortress was brimming with servants, most of whom were fortunate, but more or less captive, elves. They were nearly as foreign to her as the humans, dwarves, and Qunari she had encountered in the last few months.

The strangest bit about the elven servants, was that they didn't seem to mind their enslavement and in fact didn't believe they were slaves at claimed that their human overlords kept them fed and safe from harm and generally looked out for their welfare. But the fact that they remained dependant on the humans for so much showed them as captives in Liao's eyes. Liao knew that independence and self-reliance were the first steps towards freedom.

It bothered the Dalish elf a great deal to see others of her race so complacent with their position in the Fereldan social ladder. It made her uneasy to feel the eyes of the captive slaves staring at her as she freely moved about the palace and engaged in casual conversations with human nobles and even the queen herself. At first, she felt guilty for having a higher status than the other elves. Once she realised that they were quite happy with their servant roles, she began to ignore their presence just like all the nobles did.

That is, she had ignored them until one particular morning. The entire palace had come alive with so much activity and apprehension that day. The occasion for all the noise and chaos was the queen's coronation ceremony which would officially make her the undisputed ruler of Ferelden.

Liao and her companions had all been harassed and urged on by the servants to prepare themselves properly for the coronation event. They were all offered an infinite supply of advice on how they should appear in their garments or armour, how to wear their hair, how to stand up straight, when they were allowed to speak and all manners of bureaucratic protocol one must use when one wishes simply to say hello. It was all a bit confusing and Liao had resigned herself to only engaging in conversations with people she actually knew so that she may avoid any diplomatic mishaps.

One particularly old maid servant had crossed a line when trying to convey some of this advice to Liao earlier that morning.

"I have planned out a garment set that will compliment your eye colour, hair colour, and skin tone in a marvellous fashion and have prepared some matching powders for your face," the servant had droned on in a raspy voice.

"That won't be necessary," Liao assured her but then half realised she may have offended the older elf and quickly added, "but thank you for your efforts all the same."

"Do you intend to wear only our under garments to the ceremony then?"

Liao stopped suddenly in the small, dimly lit corridor, evidently caught off guard by the snarky attitude of the other woman. She turned to look at the woman's overly passive expression on her slightly wrinkled and angular face.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you have to wear something appropriate. It's not every day that Ferelden honours a new ruler. Don't you have any respect for the queen and what this day means to her people?"

"Of course I understand the importance of this day! If it hadn't been for me, she may not be alive today. And neither would you," Liao could feel herself becoming louder as she talked and tried to suppress the annoyance out of her voice. "As for what I will wear today, I will be wearing my finest suit of leather amour." The servant looked as if she were about to protest but Liao's tone didn't indicate the matter was up for debate. "I stayed up particularly late last night just to clean off the dirt, grime and darkspawn blood off this very armour and I will not have that effort wasted." The other woman made a disgusted noise but shrugged her shoulders in surrender.

The pair continued their walk down the corridor in silence. It wasn't a particularly well travelled route within the stone building so it wasn't dressed up as lavishly as the more important sections of the castle. After a few more minutes of walking, the older elf cleared her throat.

"Yes?" Liao inquired, mentally sighing to herself.

"Have you thought about how you will wear your hair yet?"

"What's wrong with how I am wearing it now, is it too messy and likely to offend someone important?"

"No, no not too messy, though the braids aren't in fashion at this time of year. Perhaps you would allow me to help you shape it in such a manner that it will frame your face better. You know, may be so that it will cov.. I mean, compliment your,er, facial features."

Liao caught the woman quickly diverting her glance away from the younger elf's face. She suddenly stopped walking again and it took a moment for the other elf to realise that Liao was no longer keeping pace with her.

"What you mean to say is that you wish to hide anything my appearance that indicates that I am Dalish," the younger elf said in a cool and matter-of-fact tone.

The servant opened her mouth as if to argue but quickly shut if as she hadn't known how to respond to the sudden accusation.

"I would almost expect such a racist attitude from a human," Liao persisted in an icy tone that complimented her glacial glare at the other elf, "But I certainly don't expect such treatment from my own kind. Your queen and your nation owe me a lot more respect than that after what I have done for you in the past few months. I want all of Ferelden to know that their saviour is of Dalish origins. Just try and stop me," Liao's voice was nearly a whisper and her right hand hovered instinctively over one of her sheathed daggers on her belt for emphasis.

The servant took the hint, bowed her head, and suddenly found something down an adjoining hallway that greatly needed her attention. Liao scowled as the woman fled the confrontation like the enslaved coward that she was.

Perhaps she was merely tired from not getting enough proper rest. Or maybe she had finally grown tired of all the elven servants talking secretly behind her back for the last few weeks. Whichever the reason, Liao found herself seething with an anger she hadn't felt since being forced to leave her clan behind all those months ago to pursue the duty of a Grey Warden.

Of all the time she had spent fighting off the fearsome darkspawn and playing diplomat to every cultural group in Ferelden that was obligated to assist her army against the Blight, she had had little time to feel emotional about anything. She had not spent enough time in any one human or dwarven location to experience the daily social pressures that the untainted faced. Sitting still in Denerim after the slaying of the Archdemon had rectified that.

Liao was still looking at her own reflection when a new face with blue eyes and neatly combed red hair joined the reflected elf in the frame. It took Liao a second to realise that Leliana was standing next to her in the real, non-looking-glass world. She hadn't heard the human's approach but she hadn't been startled by her presence either.

"Don't you look lovely today, my dear," Leliana said with a tone of sincerity.

Liao gave a half-smile to Leliana's reflection before turning to look at her properly, "I'm glad someone around here thinks so. And thanks, I can always rely on your honesty, unlike so many around this place."

"Ah, of course you can. We are the closest of friends aren't we?"

"Of course. Do you need any help getting ready?" Liao asked politely, though she wasn't sure if she possessed any useful skills for impressing nobles.

"That is kind of you to offer but I am almost done. Wynne is washing up now and has asked that I help do her hair and make sure she looks as youthful as possible," Leliana giggled with delight, pleased that someone would actually allow her to doll them up.

"She actually requested that?" Liao asked incredously. It was hard to imagine the old mage was not being entirely humble about her age.

"Ah, well, she may have been joking when she suggested it," Leliana said slyly, "But I'm not giving her a choice. She will thank me later."

"Don't speak of me as if I am not here, child," Wynne spoke up. She wore an overly ornate bath robe as she dug through a pile of clothes on the bed, most of which belonged to Leliana judging by the the large number of Orlesian fashions.

"Oh, Wynne, are you going to wear one of my dresses? You are more than welcome to!" Leliana said hopefully.

"Ah, no, just going to wear one of my ceremonial Circle robes if you don't mind. You're still more than welcome to play with my hair if you are still interested," she responded.

Leliana clapped her hands together with excitement and began searching for a hair brush in ernest. Liao used the opportunity to edge closer to the door and make her exit. Playing dress-up and generally engaging in girly behaviour just wasn't her idea of a good time.

"Well, guess I will go wait in the corridor while you two finish up," Liao said as she closed the door behind her to cut-off any of Leliana's protests.

The hallway was brightly lit and devoid of any pesky servants. Liao found a small lounge nestled between two wooden beams decorated with carvings. Like most of Ferelden art, the carvings depicted images of various dog breeds. It was little wonder that foreigners often accused the young nation of smelling like wet dogs.

Liao slouched against the purple velvet lounge and waited patiently. She was reluctant to unequip her longbow and quiver but it was too cumbersome to sit with them strapped to her back so she placed them on the empty cushion beside her. It wasn't long before she heard a familiar set of footsteps that sounded like stone smashing against stone approaching.

The golem came into view from the dimly lit section of the corridor and sighed heavily. The crystals imbedded in its armour seemed to glow more brightly than usual. If it could have sat down beside Liao, it probably would have done so.

"What's all this fuss about again? Why does everyone insist on polishing my crystals today?" Shale complained.

Liao shrugged her shoulders helplessly, "It's probably how humans deal with stress. Suddenly there is so much dust and grime every where when one is supposed to be busy with lots of other, unrelated tasks."

"Dust and grime, ha! Their fleshy heads might explode if they ever ventured into the Deep Roads," mused the golem.

"Indeed," Liao agreed. "I can't wait for all this ceremonial stuff to be over and done with. The sooner we can move on from Denerim, the better."

"I agree with it in this matter but have to ask, what does it intend to do after today's festivities? Will it continue to rebuild the Grey Wardens and slay the remaining darkspawn or will it retire to a quiet island further to the north? Personally, I'd rather do the latter, though I probably could not feel the warmth of the sun on my stony skin. And there would undoubtably be nasty sea birds to contend with, no, I change my mind. I'd much rather just slay darkspawn for the rest of my days than go on a vacation."

"Sadly, I don't think those are my options at this point," Liao sighed. "Haven't given it much thought, honestly, it really depends what Anora plans to do with us today, we are her guests after all."

"Maybe it considers itself to be a guest but I am sure the queen only thinks of me as a decorative novelty to impress her guests with. I'm not sure which is worse, being gawked at by hundreds of ugly fleshy creatures or playing statue for the birds outside," Shale groaned.

A creaky door could be heard opening further down the corridor, in the opposite direction from where Shale had arrived from. A quiet click was audible as it was closed again and the sound of armoured boots could be heard approaching the pair. A short, stocky figure came into view and grunted.

"What are you ladies doing here? Hey, that's my spot! I was going to sit there and have a drink before all the fancy stuff happens," the overly sober dwarf said.

"Don't see your name on it," Shale responded.

"You do know there will be plenty of drinking after the ceremony right? You don't have to get drunk before it starts," Liao pointed out.

"Yeah, sure, I know that. Lots of piss weak human ale. I've got something better in this hip flask here, have a sniff of this beauty!" Oghren thrust the flask in Liao's direction and she recoiled instinctively, having learned many times not to smell anything belonging to the dwarf.

"Ew, no thanks," Liao winced.

"Glad I can't smell anything," Shale added.

"Don't know what you lasses are missing," Oghren shrugged and drank the entire flask in a single gulp.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready with the boys?" Liao asked.

"I am ready, ain't a prettier dwarf in all of Ferelden than me," laughed the red-haired dwarf.

Liao gave a sceptical look to Shale who just stared blankly back with her expressionless golem eyes.

"So what are you two doing here? Don't ya have to get ready, polish your nails and put on your special knickers or something to impress the queen?"

"I don't wear knickers," Shale pointed out.

"That's kind of hot," Oghren chuckled to himself. Shale only groaned in response.

"I suddenly have the urge to check up on the other girls, excuse me for a moment," Liao got up from the lounge.

The door from which Oghren had came opened again and slammed shut as another figure emerged.

"It's perfectly natural for two men to get naked in front of one another without it being sexual," Zevran could be heard shouting at the door.

The three gathered around the little velvet lounge turned to look at the exasperated male elf.

"What, don't look at me, I didn't do anything wrong," Zevran said defensively. "Ok, maybe I had a quick look, just a quick one though! How was I supposed to know he'd get self-conscious about it?"

"So how big was it?" Oghren inquired.

"Well, that's the thing, my stubby friend, I couldn't really tell," Zevran responded casually.

Liao cleared her throat.

"Liao would know, wouldn't she?" Oghren persisted.

"Does it occur to you that this isn't a polite conversation to have in front of women?" Shale chimed in.

"Ruin our fun will ya," the dwarf shot back.

"Now how am I supposed to finish brushing my hair, he's locked me out!" Zevran complained as he attempted to open the door again.

"You're hair is fine, Zev. Give him some space. If you had grown up in the Chantry you might be a bit weird about changing around other guys too," Liao tried to calm the other elf down.

Zevran sighed and walked over and sat on the lounge. Oghren joined him and procured another hip flask to tempt his friend. Zevran pretended to take a sip to appease the dwarf's curiosity.

After a few more moments, the girls emerged from the bedroom where they had been getting dressed. Leliana was beaming with excitement over Wynne's new hairstyle but Liao couldn't really tell the difference. The boys weren't overly impressed either but Leliana didn't seem to notice.

"So where's Sten and Alistair?" the human girl asked.

Liao shrugged, "Not sure about Sten, haven't seen him all day. Alistair is probably still putting his armour on. Actually, I'll go check in on him, usually takes more than one person to put on that ceremonial platemail."

"Tell him to give me back my hair brush," Zevran demanded.

"Here, just use mine," Leliana offered.

"No offense but yours has red hairs in it while my hair is quite light and fair, it wouldn't be the same," Zevran sighed.

Liao tuned the conversations of the others out as she approached the bedroom further down the hallway. She knocked on it and waited.

"Go away, Zevran," came the muffled response.

"It's me," Liao said.

"Oh, right. Hang on a moment. Right, there we go," the door's locked unclicked and a blond head poked out to make sure it was indeed Liao at the door and not someone pretending to be her.

"Need any help?" Liao asked.

"Could use lots of help, actually, these buckles are a pain," he motioned her inside the messy guest room and closed the door behind her. Liao was minorly impressed with the amount of junk scattered around the room. There were bits of clothing, probably Zevran's, thrown every which way and various armour suits piled up in one of the corners.

"Feel sorry for whoever has to clean this room later," Liao commented as she stepped over some random under armour garments that littered the floor.

"Uh, yeah, you try staying in the same room with Oghren and Zevran and see what happens," Alistair responded as he searched for the other half of his breastplate among a pile of overly polished ceremonial armour on one of the beds.

"I'd rather not sleep any where near those two," she responded. "So, they got you the really fancy armour, huh?"

"Yeah, best there is in Ferelden. Anora requested that I wear one of Cailan's sets, though I don't know why. Surely she is still grieving over his death?"

"Probably, but you can't really say no to the queen regardless."

"Yeah, I'm not keen to put Anora in a bad mood. So fancy armour it is. You can tell it was made for a king though, it clearly requires about 4 people to put it on properly."

"You've managed to do alright," Liao noticed he had was only really missing the upper armour sections. He handed the back half of the breastplate to her and indicated the leather straps.

"Who designed this thing anyway? Look how many straps there are to fasten!"

"We don't have much more time before the ceremony begins so let's get to it," she said.

It took a bit of struggling but eventually the straps were done up properly. The extravagant gold plates sat against a chainmail hauberk, which was quite unusual with most Fereldan armour. Chainmail took more time to construct and required too much finesse in its creation whereas most Fereldan soldiers found the less mobile platemail to be sufficient enough for most battles. Apparently this preference didn't apply to ceremonial, just-for-show armour that was only meant to be worn for short periods of time.

"Does it look ok? Should I wear the helmet too? It's so heavy," complained Alistair.

"You look fine, don't worry about the helmet then. Good thing you don't have to wear that suit all day, it's still quite warm for autumn," was Liao's response.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Hey, do you think we have to give any speeches or anything? Anora wasn't very specific in what she wanted us to do today," he asked, looking a bit worried. He had made it quite clear that speech making was one of the many reasons he was a poor candidate for the crown of Ferelden.

Liao shrugged, "She didn't say anything to me but if it comes up, I was planning on just winging it. Never been to one of these ceremonies before and I don't suspect the human nobles will be too interested in what I have to say anyway."

"That's there loss then. I'm always interested in what you have to say," he gave her one of his famous half-smiles. "Any who, should we be off then?"

Liao picked her way back towards the door through all the junk on the floor and cleared any larger items out of the way as she went. She unlocked the door and walked back towards the velvety lounge in the hallway, hoping to have a brief moment of quiet before all the cheering and yelling started in the throne room.

"You're late," was the response that met her as she reached the rest of her companions. She looked up to see the tallest figure in the group. Sten had finally shown up and had brought the Mabari war hound with him. Not too long ago Liao had given the hound as a gift to Sten since the two had bonded so well over the past campaign to save Ferelden. The two had been even more inseparable ever since.

"We're not late. Yet," she replied. "Where have you been all morning?"

"That's not important. You're late," he repeated in his dry, monotone voice and gave a stern look with his unusually coloured eyes.

"Right then, shouldn't keep the queen waiting. Let's get this over with," Liao knew better than trying to argue with the Qunari and could hear the sound of trumpets blaring somewhere in the building. The last thing she needed to worry about after putting her life on the line for the past year was making a bad impression at the combined coronation and victory ceremony. Creators forbid she ever make a mistake in the social affairs of humans.

The coronation part of the ceremony was actually quite brief. It involved a bunch of blessings from the Reverend Mother of the Denerim Chantry and lots of boring talk about how the Maker was responsible for Anora's rise to power. Liao had begun to tune out most of the religious nonsense but was just as impressed as the rest of the chamber when the big shiny crown was brought out. It was a very elaborate item and showed its age, surely it wasn't the crown that Anora was supposed to wear on a day-to-day basis? Once the crown was placed atop the wavy blond hair of the new ruler, the room exploded with emotion and cheers. Throughout the whole affair, Anora remained calm and collected, she had been prepared her entire life for this moment and though she had ruled as queen alongside her husband King Cailan for five years, now it had finally become official that she was the sole ruler of Ferelden. Liao couldn't begin to imagine what it must have felt like to hold so much power and responsibility yet Anora seemed absolutely comfortable with it all.

Or at least, she hadn't yet had to worry about holding such power. It wasn't long after the crowning and a moment of silence for the fallen soldiers that it had become Liao's turn to stand in the spotlight. All Liao had wanted to do with her life was to grow old in the Brecilian Forest and to hunt for her clan and maybe to have a small family some day. She had never asked to be a Grey Warden and she certainly hadn't asked to save an entire nation from absolute ruin. She certainly didn't ask to become Ferelden's new Grey Warden-Commander but that was suddenly thrust upon her shoulders as well.

Anora gave a small speech about the sacrifices of the Ferelden soldiers and civilians that had died during the Blight followed by her gratitude for the help given by the Grey Wardens. She didn't mention that only two of those Wardens were responsible and that the rest had been left to die at Ostagar by her father. Of course she wouldn't have brought that up, Liao thought. She only mentioned Liao by name when granting her the rank of Warden-Commander and didn't thank Alistair at all. She was probably still rather upset over the whole Landsmeet ordeal that had resulted in the execution of her traitorous father, Loghain Mac Thir.

But of course she wasn't going to acknowledge that either, not on the first day of the rest of her reign. In fact, she ended her speech by thanking her father and his supporters for putting Ferelden's interests first. Nevermind that that very attitude had sent the nation on the course of civil war and had greatly jeopardised Liao's mission to unite the races against the Blight that threatened them all. At last she gave Liao an opportunity to say a few words and the Dalish jumped on the opportunity.

"I just want to take a moment to thank some people who haven't been mentioned yet, no offense to your Highness, of course. Many were involved in this struggle and I will not have them forgotten. In no particular order, please remember individuals that belonged to these groups: the Circle of Magi, who lended their mages to the final assault, the dwarves of Orzammar and the golems they brought with them to our defence, the valiant soldiers of Redcliffe who had already lost many before the push on the darkspawn horde, and the Dalish elves who humbly aided humans when they had nothing to gain by it.

I am one of those Dalish elves, I was Dalish before I became a Grey Warden and I will always remain Dalish. I don't ask you to understand us or our customs but know that we were there in your time of need. As were the mages and the dwarves. Every one of them deserves your respect for what they have accomplished together.

In terms of the Grey Wardens, I am honoured to serve as the new Warden-Commander and will be making recruitment a massive priority. Many of our number were lost early on in the struggle, including the former Warden-Commander Duncan. He was a good man and his Wardens were the best anyone could ask for. These are big boots for me to fill but I will aspire to keep the same standard of quality in the Ferelden Grey Warden recruits.

Thank you, your Highness, for allowing me to say these things to your subjects," Liao sure hoped she had used enough discretion and politeness. Anora's impassive expression didn't imply that the elf had screwed up too badly at any rate.

The queen was about to wrap up the first half of the ceremony and asked for any contributions from the other nobles. A few of the banns and arls gave short speeches of thanks to the Fereldan army and the Grey Wardens. Fergus Cousland, who had been away with injury during much of the past few months, was particularly overjoyed with the Wardens' success.

"I would like to not only thank the Wardens but also to reward them," he had said. "With the betrayal of the Howes and their rights to their lands revoked, it is only fitting that the Bannorn will have to decide on a new ruler for the Arling of Amaranthine, of which I own by default at the moment. I think the most suitable solution to this minor problem would be to grant the land to the Warden-Commander and allow the Wardens to have a base of operations to recover their numbers. In fact, since the Bannorn has not yet met to decide this, then I am making it official now."

There was a murmur of excitement throughout the chamber. It was unusual for so much land to be given away so freely and especially to be given to a neutral group such as the Grey Wardens. It was even more unusual that the Teyrn of Highever was willing to give such land to a commoner who had not worked her way through the Ferelden social ladder. The matter was not up for debate though and Queen Anora approved of it without any hesitation, probably thankful that she would not have to endure a lengthy deliberation with the Bannorn over who should rule Amaranthine. In addition to the gift from Teyrn Cousland, Anora had allowed Liao the opportunity to ask for a boon of her choosing.

Liao had had plenty of time to think about that in the past few weeks. She certainly didn't want to rock the political boat but she did want to see better treatment for her people. After several lists of pros and cons, she had decided that asking for permanent land to be owned by the Dalish would be the best step forward in terms of equality between the elves and humans. She couldn't ask that they become Fereldans and live amongst the humans in the human cities over night as it would just bring more problems than resolution. But land ownership, that seemed to be the key to respect and power in the human land and she had realised this early in her adventures.

Queen Anora accepted her request and declared the lands just north of the Korcari Wilds as belonging to the Dalish. Many Dalish already lived in the woods near that area already and while the land wasn't great for farming, it was a good first step that wouldn't infringe on many human settlements. It at least meant that the Dalish could have more stationary homes and added more predictability to their movements which would encourage clans to work together in more centralised locations. Liao hoped dearly that this would be to her peoples' satisfaction but she knew she would not be able to do much more for them as her new titles would prevent her from establishing a home of her own in the new Dalish land.

As an afterthought almost, the queen finished the ceremony in the throne room by asserting her claim to the throne, just in case it was still unclear after the Landsmeet ordeal a few months prior. She acknowledged that she was the first ruler to not be of the Theirin bloodline and said it was a time of new beginnings. The ceremony was finished with an announcement about a monument being constructed to honour the unification of Ferelden and victory against the Blight. In addition to this news, Anora also expressed her wish to see a monument made to her father, to remember him by, despite his questionable actions at Ostagar. The Wardens weren't thrilled with this news but there was little room for protest.

The queen ended the gathering of nobles at last and dismissed them so that they may watch the victory parade and begin to partake in the day's other victory celebrations. Many of them seem relieved to be done with the formal portion of ceremony and were eager to revel in the Warden's success. The Wardens and their companions were to lead the procession so they were the first faces that the crowd saw. The rest of the Fereldan army followed behind them. There was no evidence of any Orzammar dwarves, Circle mages, Dalish elves, or golems represented in the display.

The young heroine found it difficult to meet the eyes of all the humans, the occasional surface dwarves, and the even rarer city elves that watched her pass by them with awe-stricken expressions on their faces. Liao felt mostly embarrassed to have so many strangers cheering and toasting to her name. The hero treatment made her feel awkward and out of place. Her only comfort during the march to the fort where the Archdemon had been slain was that Alistair walked close beside her.

Once they reached the fort, the crowds began to disperse, presumably to various pubs and other drinking establishments within the recently rebuilt city. Nonetheless, the streets were still crowded with eager beings hoping to catch a glimpse of the Wardens who had saved them all. Eventually Liao and her companions found themselves going back to Denerim Palace to attend Queen Anora's formal banquet. The banquet was a smaller, personal affair for which Liao was thankful, she didn't want to waste the entire afternoon just learning peoples' names.


	2. Chapter 2  Proposal

"So I guess we're heros now, huh?" Liao asked.

"Looks that way, yeah," Alistair responded.

"I'm not sure if I understand it fully. All we did was our duty. We did what he had to do, for the survival of everyone. Do you think in a year's time anyone will even remember?"

"Of course they will, it's not every Age that a Blight is thwarted."

"That worries me, actually. I don't want to be remembered as some glorified figure. It feels strange."

"What else would you want to be remembered as?"

"I don't know. Why do people need to remember me at all? It's probably best to just be forgotten."

"That's a strange thing to say. People need heroes to look up to you. You accomplished a great deed that will inspire others to follow in your footsteps. Isn't that a good thing?"

"It's not a _bad_ thing. I'm not worried about that though. What worries me is, now I sit on some sort of pedestal of morality and righteousness. What if I make a mistake? A hero holds great power, whether they choose to wield it or not. What am I to do with that?"

"You won't make any mistakes, and even if you did, nobody expects you to be perfect."

"What about the power though? Power corrupts doesn't it?"

"It can, but it doesn't have to. What's with all the questions anyway? What's really on your mind?"

"Wasn't Loghain a hero to these people before we came along?"

"He was. Before he turned his back on them all. Before he killed their king and destroyed the other Wardens."

"So what made the hero turn into a villain?"

"How am I supposed to know? I really don't want to talk about him."

"It just has me thinking. Loghain was a dedicated soldier, he believed so greatly that his cause was just. He wanted to protect Ferelden at all costs, even if it meant sacrifices. He betrayed those he was supposed to save. And yet, he was not held accountable for those actions. Do you remember how Ser Cauthrien defended him to her last dieing breath, even when she knew all about his evil deeds? How can a hero inspire so much blind devotion? Even now I am sure people still think he was a great man."

"Anyone who believes that is an idiot, quite frankly."

"Loghain was our enemy and the reason we had to rise up and unite the land. If the hero hadn't fallen, new heroes wouldn't have had to fix his mistakes. In a roundabout way, we are only here because Loghain failed. What happens when we fail? What new heroes will rise up to replace us?"

"You assume that we must fail then. Are you afraid that all heroes must turn into villains? There's plenty of examples that would refute that. There are many different kinds of heroes, Liao."

"Are there? I guess I've never worried much about heroes before. I always figured they were exaggerated and their stories were always written in a good light. People don't want to hear about fallen heroes, full of flaws and weaknesses.

I don't want to become something I'm not. I'm just someone who killed an archdemon and saved a nation, it's really not a big deal. If suddenly I have to worry about expectations to be a good little hero all the time, well, I think I might go insane."

"You won't have to worry about that, you're already a good person. The quest is done, now all we have to do is rebuild the Wardens and live out the rest of our years. Our hero days are over, aren't they?"

"Maybe. Who is to say another Blight won't happen in our lifetime or some other conflict will present itself? I think I will look forward to getting away from all this hero worship stuff before people start thinking I am some kind of god."

"I won't argue with that," Alistair was relieved to end the conversation. Discussing the moral decisions made by Loghain were never high on his list of fun things to talk about, "Don't you need to get ready for dinner?"

"Ah, yeah. How about you, do you need anything?" Liao asked.

"I think I can manage alright on my own, but thanks for offering. Don't wait up for me. I'll catch up with you in the dining hall, alright?"

"Sure, see you in a bit then."

Liao was finding their living arrangements at the palace to be a minor nuisance after spending months camping in the middle of no where with her companions. It used to be easy to share and store their equipment and other necessities in one space rather than splitting up amongst a few different rooms. She did, however, enjoy having a cozy bed to sleep in instead of a lumpy bedroll on the ground

Her companions had been split up amongst 3 different rooms. Wynne and Leliana (and occasionally Shale when the mood stroke her) shared a medium-size room with a bath. The boys: Alistair, Zevran, and Sten, had been put up in one of the barrack-like rooms set aside for Fereldan army captains. Oghren had opted to stay with the Fereldan army recruits since signing on board with the army, despite his officer status.

The Warden-Commander had been treated to a room of her own, with her own four-poster bed and a small lounge area for visitors. It was one of the rooms that would have been reserved for ambassadors or other visiting foreign dignitaries. She had quickly learned that it was not socially acceptable in Ferelden for one to share their bed with someone they weren't married to, which had made things slightly awkward given her relationship with Alistair. Many could assume the two were close enough to be a couple but neither had acknowledged it in a public manner.

Early in the day, Liao had decided she would try something different for the celebration banquet. While she hadn't wanted to dress up for the nobles during the coronation, she was more than willing to try her hand at dressing up for the dinner party. Leliana had suggested many different dresses and accessories to her over the course of the past few weeks, all of which Liao had taken little interest in during their stay at Denerim Palace. At one point, Leliana had bought an outfit for her elven friend and had refused to be compensated for it, saying every girl deserved to have one formal outfit. She had been particularly excited about the matching shoes that she had gotten to go with it; they were of an Orlesian style with tapered heels that subtly complimented the Fereldan dress. The colour scheme of the silken fabrics were that of spring, light blues, vibrant greens, and canary yellow that would suit Liao's complexion and eye colour.

This was the outfit Liao chose for the evening though she had slight difficulty figuring out how to lace up the fashionable waist girdle that Fereldan women seemed so enamoured with. Eventually she figured it out and proceeded to slip on the cute, but completely impractical, shoes. She examined herself in the looking glass for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to approach her braided hair. She opted to pull her hair up, braids included, in a small bun at the back of her neck. It was surprising how noticeably pointed her ears appeared when they weren't covered up. For a moment she pondered what it would look like if she were able to wear earrings like the Orlesians that prowled the Denerim marketplace. After adding a few light splashes of perfume that Wynne had given her, the elven Warden felt satisfied with her appearance. She was quite eager to see the astonished expressions on her friends' faces.

Liao walked the short distance down the corridors that led to the dining hall. The large , open room had been set up with long wooden tables near the walls with the middle being mostly cleared of any furniture. The banners and draperies that adorned the walls were bright in colour. They depicted the symbols of the Grey Wardens, a griffon, and those of the Fereldan royal crest, featuring two lions and a crown. The main table at the head of the room was covered with plates, food, and plenty bottles of various alcoholic beverages.

The young elf scanned the room for familiar faces and saw a few that she recognised. Being her typical shy self, however, Liao looked around the edges of the room for a quiet place to wait for the beginning of the meal. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed another elf that she had met briefly before in the Alienage and had fought alongside with briefly during the battle to reclaim Denerim. Intrigued by the presence of a city elf at a formal, mostly human gathering, Liao decided to approach the other woman.

"Shianni, right?" She asked in a soft tone, as the other elf seemed to have a cautious look on her face.

"Yes. Oh! It's you, the Warden. Forgive me but I cannot remember your name," the red-haired girl said with a hint of embarrassment.

"My name's Liao, it's good to see you again," Liao said. "I didn't expect to see any other elves here besides servants."

"Yeah, I wasn't initially the one invited. Elder Valendrian was supposed to come to represent the Alienage but I don't think he has any interest in fancy parties so he gave the invitation to me instead," Shianni explained.

"Well, that was kind of him," Liao said.

"Yeah, I think he wants to train me to be the next hahren (elder), even though I'm still quite young. Guess it doesn't hurt to rub shoulders with all the important shems (quickling, reference to how quickly humans age in comparison to elves) early, huh?" Shianni added.

Liao was surprised to hear elven words, she hadn't heard her own language very much since leaving her clan and the city elves only used it sparingly, "Ah, very good. You'll do a great job as hahren. But here's a word of advice, and I mean no offense, but calling humans 'shem' or 'shemlen' is probably not a good idea. Most of them don't know what it means and they'll think you're insulting them."

"Ah yeah, sorry, it's a bad habit," the other elf apologised, "Hey I don't suppose you could teach me some Dalish words sometime could you? It's so rare for us to run into our Dalish brothers and sisters when we're cooped up in the city."

"Sure, I'd love to though I don't know how much longer we'll be staying in Denerim," Liao was excited to have someone to talk to, especially someone interested in her culture.

"Just give me a quick run down of all the insults then," Shianni laughed.

"If I knew some, you'd be the first to know, lethallan," Liao smiled.

"That's 'friend', right? And I was just joking about the insults, ha ha!" Shianni seemed more at ease now. "Oh, who's that good looking she- er, human? He looks familiar."

Liao glanced in the direction that Shianni had indicated and saw Alistair approaching the pair. "That's Alistair, a Warden like me. He fought with us at the Battle of Denerim, remember?"

"Vaguely, I try not to think about that battle often. Too bad he's human, he'd be quite the catch, hey?" Shianni said suggestively.

"He is," Liao smiled.

"I am what?" the blond templar grinned.

"You're look quite dashing in that fancy tunic, that's what," Liao complimented him.

"_Me_? What about _you_? Maker's breath, I've never seen so you so dressed up before! You look absolutely ravishing," he said with astonishment before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

"Ma'arlath (I love you)," Liao said in response.

"And I you," he said back.

Shianni cleared her throat to indicate that she was still present, "Figures, all the good looking ones are human_ and_ taken."

"Oh, sorry," Liao said., "Alistair, do you remember Shianni from the Alienage?"

"She's the feisty one that we helped out right?" he recalled.

"Yeah, that's me alright," Shianni laughed, "So when is this meal going to start? Can we skip to the drinking already?"

"Hopefully soon, I'm famished!" Alistair said, "Oh look, Leliana and Wynne are already here. I'm going to go join them at the table while you two finish whatever it was I interrupted."

Before Liao could protest he had already wandered off.

"So, you and the human, eh?" Shianni asked with interest.

"Yeah.." Liao felt herself blushing slightly.

In a quieter, more concerned voice, Shianni said: "You do know why elves don't normally mate with humans right?"

"I know there are social barriers, sure," Liao responded, "But it's not much of an issue for us. We're Wardens, we kind of don't have to follow normal social conventions."

"Yeah, but aside from that," Shianni began again, "Elves and humans can only produce human offspring, you know? It's kind of why we in the Alienage stick to arranged marriages with others of our kind."

"Whoa, offspring, who said anything about offspring? It's early days yet for us," Liao replied, "Besides, the Warden-lifestyle isn't exactly family-friendly."

"Yeah, I guess not. Still, it's something to consider. Just as long as you already know. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt, lethallan," Shianni said affectionately.

"I appreciate the concern," Liao reassured the other elf, "Anyway, let's not dawdle here. I'm getting hungry now."

"And I am getting thirsty!" Shianni agreed as the two made their way over to the table where most of Liao's companions had settled in.

The meal was a feast of meats, vegetables, soups, and side dishes made from local Fereldan produce. Liao had never seen so much food in one location in all of her life and from the expression on Shianni's face, neither had she. The humans and the occasional surface dwarf didn't seem too fussed by the display. The cutlery and dishes were made of a stylish porcelain and the goblets and tankards depicted similar rustic artwork that could be seen throughout the palace. There was an ample supply of extra alcohol for the guests with several kegs at the back of the room to replenish any beverage made available with the meal.

It didn't take long for the large hall to fill up with loud noise. There was the occasional outburst from the exceptionally drunk like Oghren and Zevran but otherwise everyone was busy engaging one another in small groups of conversation. Everyone seemed to have so much to talk and laugh about except for the queen herself, who looked quite disconnected from the rest of the room.

Liao thought briefly about engaging her highness in some sort of discourse but couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say to her. Besides, Leliana and the other women kept badgering Liao for details of a personal nature and she was having a difficult time fending them off as wine began to relax her nerves. Zevran joined in with the ladies and managed to distract them with some his past exploits as a lady's man (or man's man, depending on the story) in Antiva. Shianni in particular was quite enamoured with him until he revealed one of his more disturbing stories which led the group to leave the table and seek out a more interesting storyteller.

At this point in the evening, people were beginning to mingle amongst the various tables and dessert was being placed out around the room. Most of it was small, finger-sized food that could be eaten while wandering about such as sweet biscuits and scones. Sten, who had been especially quiet for much of the whole event, spoke up only to indicate his disappointment that there wasn't any cake available. Liao found it amusing that the large Qunari man had quite a strong sweet tooth and tried explaining to him that there were pies and many different biscuits for him to try instead. He was only slightly satisfied with this revelation though and remained sulking in a corner for the rest of the night.

Oghren was beginning to make a scene with his excessive alcoholic consumption and was challenging anyone to a drink off. A few Fereldan army officers were foolish enough to humour the dwarf and found themselves quickly being scolded by their higher ranking officers. Zevran took up Oghren's challenge though and the pair attempted to sing an old Antivan drinking song in a mixture of slurred Dwarven and Dalish. Neither knew the words well enough in Common let alone in the other languages and it didn't have the infectious result that they had hoped for. It did, however, encourage the band of minstrels and troubadours to take to their instruments to drown out the obscene sound.

"Finally! I can show off my new shoes on the dance floor," Leliana giggled. "You can come dance with me, Liao!"

"I can't dance, Lel," Liao reminded her human friend. "Besides, isn't it awkward for two ladies to dance together?"

"In Orlais, it is perfectly acceptable for dance partners to be of the same gender. Is it not the same here in Ferelden?" Leliana asked, looking a little worried.

"Don't worry, I'll come dance with you, Leliana!" Shianni piped up and the pair of them disappeared into a crowd that was beginning to gather around the centre of the room.

"That's a relief, I really don't want to worry about dancing if I don't have to," Alistair said to Liao now that it was just the pair of them at the table.

"But I thought you could do a good Remingold?" Liao laughed, remembering how the pair had plotted to distract the darkspawn at Ostagar with interpretive dance, to which Duncan hadn't been very supportive of.

"Hey, a darkspawn wouldn't know the difference. Anyway, that was a total bluff. I'm surprised you even remember that," he said in response.

"Of course I do, don't you remember the exasperated look on Duncan's face? That was priceless," Liao laughed.

"Yeah," Alistair said less cheerfully, "That was the last time we saw him."

"At least he had a good laugh at our expense before.. you know.." Liao tried to keep the conversation moving in a positive way.

"Maybe we could talk about something else?" he asked.

"Sure, what did you have in mind?" she knew better than to talk at length about the former Warden-Commander.

Alistair looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Not here. Let's find some where more private to talk."

Liao looked at him with a bit of confusion, "Are you upset that I mentioned Duncan?"

"Ah, no. That's not it. But there, uh, is something else I do want to talk about but it's just too loud in here right now," he suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable, maybe even a bit nervous.

"The courtyard is probably empty right now, we could go out there if you want?" Liao suggested.

"That could work," he said as Liao led him through the crowded dining hall and out towards one of the gardens behind the large, stone palace.

There were only a few lit torches set up around the courtyard but the light from the palace's windows managed to illuminate the cobbled footpaths. There weren't any other guests outside to bother the two Wardens. Dusk was turning into evening and the first few stars and a half-moon dotted the sky above. Because it was autumn, there weren't many flowers in bloom but there was the occasional rose bush that made its presence known with its distinctive scent. The breeze that filtered through the garden was light but chilled and warned of cooler weather to come.

Liao shivered slightly as her body adjusted to the temperature difference between the fireplace-laden palace to the empty courtyard. Alistair instinctively undid his cloak's clasp and draped the garment over the elf's thin shoulders.

"Thanks," she said. He had been really quiet since they had come outside and it felt nice to break the silence. "Are you feeling ok?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just wanted to spend a moment alone with you is all," he said.

"Well, here I am," she smiled. At that moment she smelt a recognisable floral scent, "Hey this rose bush smells familiar," she bent down to investigate the velvety red flowers more closely. The smell was both familiar and invigorating.

"Those are the same kind as the one I gave you before the Landsmeet, do you remember?" he asked.

"Of course I do," she said, standing closer to him. He wrapped her up in his arms and the two stood there for a moment in silence as they remembered the day when they had become more than simply two Wardens trying to stop the Blight.

"Hey, look at this. Do you know what this is?"

Liao had been too busy pacing back and forth, ranting and raving about her own problems that she had barely acknowledged Alistair's presence. His outlandish question caught her completely off-guard and she was too dumbfounded to think of a witty response. After a long, awkward pause she finally noted the object in his hand and said, "That's a rose."

"I picked it in Lothering," he said casually, clearly oblivious to the sudden shift in topic, "I remember thinking, 'How can something so beautiful exist in a place with so much despair and ugliness?' I probably should have left it alone, but I couldn't. The darkspawn would come eventually with their taint and just destroy it, along with everything else in Lothering. I couldn't bear that so I've kept it in my pack ever since," He stopped to look at her reaction, realising that maybe he was crossing some sort of barrier that separated casual conversation from personable conversation. He was hoping it wasn't completely inappropriate to express the feelings he had longed to share since they had left Ostagar so many months ago.

"What do you intend to do with it now?" Liao asked, still mentally trying to figure out what was going on. She suddenly felt as if the conversation was beginning to pull her into unfamiliar territory. She couldn't quite identify the emotions she was beginning to feel at that moment. The sensation in her stomach was completely foreign and new. Hadn't she had multiple conversations with her fellow Warden over the course of the last few months without feeling this ridiculous before?

"I thought that I might... give it to you, actually, if you like. In a lot of ways, I think the same thing whenever I look at you," he was still holding tightly onto the stem of the deep red rose, though his grip seemed slightly shakier than when he had first presented it to her.

"You do?" Liao asked, it had been the sweetest compliment she had ever heard but she had no clue how to respond. _This is silly, why are we both so nervous all of a sudden? _she thought. She took a few steps closer towards her friend, intending to accept his gift, but when her out-stretched hand brushed against his she could feel herself blushing fiercely, "Thank you, Alistair, I really don't know what to say."

"I'm glad you like it," he smiled but continued talking in an attempt to put her more at ease, "I was thinking..here I am doing all this complaining and you haven't exactly been having a good time of things as of late yourself. You've had none of the_ good_ experiences of being a Grey Warden since you're Joining, not a word of thanks or hint of gratitude from those around you. Our journey so far has been full of nothing but death and fighting and tragedy," he sighed softly, "And I thought, I thought maybe I could say something to change that. I wanted to tell you what a rare and wonderful thing you are to find amongst all this...darkness," now it was his turn to blush in a ridiculous fashion. He sincerely hoped the words sounded just as good out loud as they had in his head, "I guess it was, uh, just a stupid impulse. I don't know. Was it?"

"No, not at all," she quickly assured him. She placed her hands on his briefly before taking the rose and its scent washed over her like a gentle breeze. She merely stood in front of Alistair wondering what to do next.

The young elf could nearly hear her own heart beating but she was no closer to understanding why her body was responding in the way that it was. A few moments ago she was at breaking point with everything that related to the Blight and the upcoming Landsmeet. Now she felt like a shy child that could barely string an entire sentence together. How could one person affect her so greatly when she was in the fieriest of moods?

The human seemed satisfied at calming his companion down. It pained him greatly to see her so upset and he felt slightly responsible for having placed the mantle of leadership, with all its endless responsibilities, upon her shoulders. He had tried to be as supportive during their quest to unite the cultures of Ferelden as possible but knew he could be trying harder to help Liao out.

Now she was about to have a mental breakdown just before the biggest decision she was going to have to make. Deciding who should rule a human nation that the Dalish girl had no interest in was difficult enough. She was also responsible for the fate of her closest friend and if the roles had been reversed, Alistair was sure he'd be just as upset as she was that afternoon.

Liao cleared her throat to break the silence, "Um, I guess I'll find a vase for this rose then? Yes, that seems like a good idea. Do you intend to hang out by my door all day or are you going come in and make yourself comfortable? I don't have any where else to be, so, you're welcome to keep me company, if you wish," she turned around and spotted a flower vase on the nightstand near her bed that was full of local wild-flowers, "Ah, here we go!"

"If you'll have me, then I'd love to spend some time with you," the templar said, still feeling as if he was being too forward and direct but Liao didn't indicate that it was bothering her yet. He glanced around the small but familiar guest room. It was very similar to the other guest rooms in Arl Eamon's estate. The rooms were designed more for sleeping than for entertaining guests, however, and there was only the bed and a small chair by the vanity to sit on. _Well, you've gotten this far without screwing up, may as well go for the bed, _he thought.

Liao was busy pulling out the current flowers in the vase and replacing them with the single rose that Alistair had just given her. It kept her mind busy at least, she was unsure as to how to entertain her guest but she knew she'd rather hide in her room all day than deal with more Ferelden politicking. It was as good as an excuse as any to get some much needed personal time, albeit it wouldn't be spent quite entirely alone as she had expected it to.

"Hey, you're bed is way more comfortable than mine," Alistair commented as he stretched out on the double-sized bed.

"You're not going to keep your dirty boots on in here are you?" Liao asked in a disapproving tone. "Those linens were just put on that bed this morning."

"Er, yeah, good point. Sorry. It's a bit of an odd habit_, not_ having to be dressed up ready to fight darkspawn all the time. Plus the stone floors are so cold around this place," he said while unlacing his boots. Liao sat down on the bed across from him while he did so. She was staring at him as if seeing him for the first time, "What, is something on my face?"

"No, silly," she smiled but kept looking at him all the same.

"Well, what is it you see then, my lady?"

"I see a handsome human man sitting in my bedroom who must possess some sort of magical power to diffuse my temper so easily," the words came out before she even had time to think of them, it felt as if she were running on pure instinct rather than calculated logic.

"It's true that templars do know a thing or two about magic but we're not trained in the art of culling tempers," he laughed. In a more serious tone he said, "I just didn't want to see you so upset, Liao. I know you're under the most stress out of all of us lately and it isn't fair. We're supposed to be out there killing darkspawn, but we've been stuck playing diplomat since we rescued Anora."

"Don't I know it," Liao sighed. "I've still not reached my decision yet, if you were wondering. I'm sure that's all you came down here to discuss after all."

"That was the plan, yes. However, it seems there isn't much else to do today and you're pretty much the only person I can stand to talk to around here," he said, remembering how the rest of their companions had treated him with casual disregard during lunch. "Er, not to say that you aren't important. Because you mostly definitely _are _important. To me at least, if I may be so bold."

"You may. And while we're being so bold here, perhaps we should just be honest with one another, yes? You've been holding onto that rose for awhile now, several months in fact. Is there anything I should know about?"

"I-, well, it's been rather hard to just say it, you see. You're not the easiest woman to approach. For one, your quite beautiful. Secondly, you tend to keep everyone at arm's length, which I guess makes sense as Dalish aren't taught to trust humans easily. And weren't you and Zevran sort of involved at some point?"

"You're still being evasive," she pointed out, "I can wait all day for you to spit it out, you know."

"I wouldn't mind spending all day in bed with you," he said slyly. "But you deserve to know how I feel. So here goes," he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. When he opened them again he looked directly into Liao's small, emerald eyes, "I know it.. might sound strange, considering we haven't known each other for very long, but I've come to..care for you. A great deal, actually. I think maybe it's because we've gone through so much together, I don't know. Or maybe I am imagining it. Maybe I am fooling myself, it's hard to tell. I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Liao was relieved to hear him reveal his feelings first. She hadn't realised she cared about him that much until recently. After she had broken down into hysterics after dealing with the elven slavers in the Alienage, he had be the only person to calm her down. While she got along with nearly all of her charges, Alistair had always been the only one she could really talk to for much of the journey. He was the only one that knew what she was going through after the Joining and what it felt like to have haunted dreams about Archdemons. More than that, he had never judged or critiqued her progress as she tried to adjust to the world beyond the familiarity of her clan's traditions. He had come to rely on her greatly but he probably didn't realise how much she had come to depend on him in return.

"It's the first time I've ever felt this way about someone as well," she said in a whisper. 'I'm not sure whether I should be thrilled or terrified but I do know one thing for certain. I couldn't manage every day of my life without you. I _need_ you at my side, and not just against the darkspawn. I mean, that is, to say, I care about you very much. I've never been in love before, not really anyway, but I imagine it must feel very similar to this."

"Now that we've gone through the awkward moments, what's next? Where do we go from here?"

"I really don't know. We can't get too carried away, can we? There's still the Landsmeet to deal with in the next few days. Then we have to gather the armies together to push against the darkspawn. Do we even have time to pursue our personal desires right now?"

"I'm willing to make time if you are," he offered.

"I don't think it's up to us to decide that. Races and nations are depending on our success, there's just too many other things to consider. You of all people should understand the importance of duty and how it must take precedence over everything else," she insisted.

"Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much? Come on, don't let me down now. We've slain hundreds of evil creatures and now you're suddenly too afraid of your own heart? That doesn't sound like the Liao I've grown to know," he urged.

Liao felt foolish, she had grown so used to dealing with others' problems and had spent so little time focusing on herself and her own needs. Now she suddenly had the opportunity to pursue something she greatly wanted and she was shying away from it, "I must sound stupid to you," was all she managed to say.

"Of course not, don't say that. You've given up so much to help us all. Why don't you let someone take care of you for once?"

"I can take care of myself. Everyone is counting me. Count on Liao to save us from the Archdemon, count on Liao to choose your ruler, count on Liao to do all your errands. Never fear, she's here to do what everyone else is too scared to do," she could feel the emotions from earlier showing themselves again. She was angry and tired of being everyone's heroine. All she wanted was some peace and quiet, maybe some time to mourn the loss of Tamlen, maybe the chance to re-unite with her clan. But everyone demanded so much from her, she had no time to even think for her own well-being. "Nobody's cared about my feelings so far, so why should you start caring all of a sudden? You're just worried that I'll make you king, come in here trying to coax me into making a decision that benefits you. Well it won't work. I am nobody's puppet. I am just me. A girl cut off from her home and her family and cursed with the darkspawn taint. I don't want all this pressure!"

_Just as it was all going so well, too_ Alistair sighed, he glanced over at Liao and saw the tears on her face briefly before she turned away. What could he have possibly said to set her off? Perhaps he was being too selfish and should never have said anything. She was still just as distraught as when he came into the room earlier, maybe even more so now. "I'm really sorry, do you want me to go now and leave you alone?"

"No," she said so softly that he had to lean in closer to hear her, "But I don't want you to see me like this either."

Instead of responding with words, Alistair hugged his elven friend closely. He didn't know what else to say anyway, but at least he could make her feel comfortable and safe. "If you need to fall apart, I'll be right here to hold you together," he whispered in her ear.

She hugged back and held onto him tightly, "Did you mean all those things you said earlier?"

"I meant every word of it. Please don't be upset," he slowly pulled away from her so he could look her in the eye, "Let me help you through this, alright? We're in this fight together."

She nodded but still felt ridiculous for crying in front of him, "I meant what I said too. I think I'm just feeling too many things all at once. Stress, despair, fear, love. It's all a bit overwhelming."

"Speaking of overwhelming.." Alistair wrapped an arm around Liao and leaned in to kiss her gently. It was a brief kiss but it was enough to calm both of their nerves. She made no attempt to pull away so he gave her another, slightly longer kiss which she reciprocated happily.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he laughed softly, still holding her smaller body in his arms. "Maker's breath but you are beautiful."

She only smiled in response, though she could feel her cheeks warming slightly. Liao felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she was now free to be herself and do as she pleased. She leaned back onto the bed to stretch and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Alistair asked as he turned to face her in her new position.

"Nothing. Everything. I don't know, but by the Creators I have never been so happy before," she giggled uncontrollably at nothing in particular.

"I'm glad to hear it!" he smiled at her and she motioned for him to come closer.

"I don't intend to leave this bed today, do you?"

"Your desire is my command."

"Then it is my desire that you stay here with me. Nothing else matters today."

Liao stood on her toes and turned around to kiss Alistair briefly. When they parted, he held her left hand and looked into her eyes before taking a deep breath, "You look absolutely stunning tonight, you know that? Maker's breath but there is no luckier man in all of Thedas than I. You know I love you, right?"

"Yes, silly, I love you too, " she smiled.

"That's good because I want to ask you something important. I don't know the Dalish custom for this so I'll do it the only way I know how," he began. The young templar dug through a pocket hidden by his tunic and produced a small, shiny object that reflected the light from a nearby torch.

"In the human tradition, when a man wishes to marry a woman, he gives her a ring that symbolises their eternal love. I had this ring crafted for you and I hope you will accept it. I know this seems really sudden but I didn't want to wait any longer since our lives are already shortened enough. Liao, would you honour me by marrying me?"

Liao was bewildered, the human custom was unfamiliar to her but it wasn't hard to figure out how important this decision was for the both of them. She didn't even have to take a moment to think of her response, "Yes, I will marry you, Alistair." She didn't know what more to say, she could feel her face beaming with joy.

"Really? Andraste's flaming sword, she said yes!" he exclaimed at nobody in particular and nearly forgot in his excitement to place the glittering ring on her finger. The ring featured a pattern of leaves in alternating gold and silver that were the same shape as the ones in the Brecilian forest from where Liao had been born and raised. She didn't take notice of the detail at that moment though. Instead, the happy couple embraced one another and allowed the excitement of the moment to wash over them.

Eventually the pair made their way back to the dining hall which was starting to resemble more of a dance hall than a place to grab a meal. The lutes and other instruments provided a festive background music. The crowd made it difficult to find where the rest of their friends might be but within moments Wynne had spotted the couple.

"Where have you two been off to? You missed Oghren taking up Bann Teagan's challenge," she asked but when neither of them could figure out how to respond, she added, "Oh it wasn't that interesting really, but the expression on the bann's face was adorable. I'm not even sure where they found a whole keg of pickle juice anyway."

Before they could say much, Teyrn Cousland approached the small group. "I've been looking for you guys all evening," he said.

"Sorry, we've been a bit busy," Alistair said, "I'd be happy to talk with you after I make a bit of an announcement."

"Announcement?" Wynne asked as she instinctively looked at Liao's hand and noted the new piece of jewellery, "Oh!"

Teyrn Cousland managed to pull off an ear-splitting whistle that paused the entire room, even Oghren had stopped dancing on a table and looked nearly ready to fall over. The musicians and stopped and every head turned to look at the dark haired Teyrn, "They're all yours now, Warden."

Alistair felt embarrassed to have the attention of so many, including the queen of Ferelden, but the joy of the evening pushed him onwards like adrenaline during a tough fight, "I just wanted to announce that Liao has agreed to accept my hand in marriage. A ceremony will be held at Amaranthine in the near future and we would be happy to have some of you as our guests," he paused for a moment while cheers and shouts of congratulations were made, "I'd also like to propose a toast to the future . I look forward to rebuilding what was lost at Ostagar. For the Grey Wardens! For our Warden-Commander Liao!" The room roared with approval and the clanking noise of tankards and goblets. The music began again with a new fervour and dancing commenced.

Almost instantly, Liao found herself surrounded by Leliana, Shianni, Wynne, and others women who were excited for the soon-to-be-bride. She didn't catch sight of Zevran or any of her male companions and she would have preferred to not be fussed over. Teyrn Cousland used the moment to pull Alistair aside to have a quick chat before he too was swarmed by strangers wishing him well. When everyone eventually gave Liao a moment to catch her breath, the young elf was approached by her quiet friend, Sten.

"I have decided," the qunari stated.

"Decided what, Sten?" Liao asked him.

"I have decided now is a good opportunity to return to my homeland. The Blight is done and my quest for the arishok is done. There's no reason to linger," he continued.

"I thought you were going to visit Amaranthine with everyone else before you left?"

"It is not necessary. A ship is ready to sail north from the local port. I have already booked passage for the hound and myself."

"I.. don't know what to say, Sten. I think I will miss having you around. You're one of the finest warriors I have ever met."

"Perhaps I shall see you again one day. Until then, may you always find the path you seek. Farewell, kadan," the large qunari said definitively before leaving the room. Liao had come to respect him over the past year but knew it was unwise to argue with his wishes. There wasn't anything left to do though later Leliana told Liao she should have hugged the half-giant goodbye. Somehow the elf didn't think Sten would have appreciated that.

After some more time had passed, Alistair and the Teyrn of Highever returned to Liao, who was just beginning to feel a bit tired from all the day's activities.

"You look like you have something to say," Liao said to Alistair as she tried to suppress a yawn.

"I do. The timing isn't ideal but Fergus," Alistair indicated the Teyrn informally and casually, "has asked me to stay at Highever for a short visit. I'm not sure if you remember, but Duncan was from Highever and I think it would be a good opportunity to pay my respects."

"That sounds alright, but when are you planning to go?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning, if possible," Fergus Cousland added helpfully, "I had already planned to leave tomorrow since my sister is supposed to be returning from the Free Marches and we had already arranged on the day to meet. It would be ideal if Alistair left with me. I regret that this falls on the day after your engagement and I understand if you two don't want to do this so soon."

"It's important to you, right?" Liao asked Alistair directly, "I mean, we're going to be so busy soon that we won't have the time to leave Amaranthine often. This is probably the best time for you to do this."

"It is, but I will make it up to you some how," Alistair agreed, "I won't take any longer than a week. It will give you time to settle in at Vigil's Keep and maybe Leliana or Wynne can help you with all the wedding stuff."

Liao thought about it a bit, she wasn't thrilled about being separated from her closest friend, now fiancé, for any amount of time but she knew how much it meant to him to give Duncan a proper funeral. She also suspected that as the Arlessa of Amaranthine, it would do her well to honour the wishes of high-ranking nobles like Fergus Cousland, especially when he had just given so much to the Wardens.

"Ok, I'll allow it," she said finally. To lighten the mood she added: "Teyrn Cousland, I only ask that you keep him out of trouble."

"You may call me Fergus, my lady," Fergus shook her hand in the way nobles did when they agreed to things, "And don't worry, he'll be under my ever-watchful eye."

"Thanks, Liao," Alistair said, "Perhaps we should get some rest soon then and spend what's left of our evening together? I can help you get ready for your move to Amaranthine tomorrow."

"I'd appreciate that," Liao said, "I'll just go say good night to her highness before we depart. No sense in being rude."

"Retiring for the evening?" Queen Anora asked the elven Warden-Commander as she approached her.

"Yes, your highness," Liao bowed her head to show respect. "We'll be leaving for Amaranthine tomorrow afternoon. I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to properly say good bye to you then, so I wished to say it now."

"That's thoughtful of you, most people don't care enough to tell me anything," Anora seemed more distant than usual and overly sober given the recent celebrations. Her guards were watchful of her from afar and no subjects, servants, or anyone in particular was spending time talking with her. It occurred to Liao that the Ferelden queen looked rather lonely.

"Of course I care, you were an integral part of our success against the Blight," Liao reminded the human queen, "I will not be forgetting you any time soon."

"Thank you, Commander," Anora chose to address Liao by her rank rather than her name, "I heard about your engagement tonight. I would offer my congratulations if the man was more deserving of your affection."

Liao wasn't sure if the queen was being sarcastic or serious but she decided to shrug off the comment, "Thank you for your thoughts. Your highness, if I may speak frankly here, you look like you've not had a very good time this evening."

Anora sighed and looked directly at Liao, "It's nothing. I've just got too many things to worry about and my mind has been elsewhere. I've never been really good at parties anyway. But it is getting late, is it not? I shan't keep you up with my lamentations."

"Yes, it is," Liao said, "Queen Anora, it has been a privilege to serve with you. If you ever need anything from the Wardens, or from me, don't be afraid to ask."

"I doubt I will need anything but I'll remember the sentiment all the same. Good night, Warden-Commander," with that the queen rose from her throne and followed her guards out of the back of the room, presumably towards her chambers for the night. Liao did similar and was relieved to have survived the social event without too many blunders.

The next morning, Liao saw Alistair and Fergus Cousland off at the Denerim gates as they left for Highever. In the afternoon, she packed her belongings and met her companions at the same gates. Wynne, Zevran, Leliana, and Shale were to travel with her via a caravan route to the coastal Arling. Within a few hours they caught their first glimpses of Vigil Keep's towering stone structure. The sun was setting behind one of the towers when Liao thought to herself: _So this is my home now. I've never had a home before. This will be interesting. _


	3. Chapter 3 Vigilance

If the port of Amaranthine was considered the jewel of the arling, then Vigil's Keep could be considered to be her watchful guardian. The arling itself consisted mostly of fertile farm land nestled between the coastal hills. To the north was the Waking Sea and to the east lay the vast Amaranthine Ocean, for which the arling was named after. In the centre of it all stood the proud structure of the keep, sitting atop the largest hill in the region and watching over the land for which it was designed to protect. The hill itself was covered in dense conifers and a varied history, as Liao would discover later.

When Liao and her companions had arrived at the fortified gatehouse the evening before, they had been greeted by the keep's guards and the keep's keeper, as it were, Seneschal Varel. Varel was an older human with greying features but he knew how to run the keep and the local area. He had been chosen by Anora herself to rule over the keep in Liao's absence and to assist her in maintaining her new land when she was present. As Liao would learn later, Varel had been the seneschal when Rendon Howe had ruled over the arling but the two men hadn't seen eye-to-eye.

Liao had to keep reminding herself that the keep she now ruled over had once belong to the Howes. She was still not an expert on Ferelden politics but she had heard all the horror stories about Arl Howe's personal crusade against the Couslands that had wiped the entire family out aside from Fergus and his younger sister. There certainly wasn't much love for the Howe family any more and many Fereldans attributed the recent civil war to their ambition. Had the Landsmeet not occurred and a ruler not put on Ferelden's throne, the civil war would probably still be waging on and there would have been no armies to fight against the Blight. There were memories of the Howes all over the buildings of Vigil's Keep and the young Warden-Commander felt as if the entire structure was haunted with their legacy.

Aside from all the history that was attached to the oldest keep in Ferelden, Liao found the fortifications and practical nature of the buildings to be of most interest. In her short time as a Grey Warden, she had quickly learned to recognise the merits of a potential battlefield and could begin to formalise strategies before they were needed. There was certainly room for structural improvement, however, as one of the dwarven masons had warned her upon her arrival but there was plenty of time to deal with that. The Blight was over and it would be quite some time before the Vigil would see any combat.

The elven Warden spent her first evening in the keep tower exploring the nooks and crannies as best she could without putting any of the guards on edge. The men and women that guarded the towers were Ferelden soldiers, not Grey Wardens, and had probably been stationed at the Vigil ever since Howe had been Arl of Amaranthine. They weren't a suspicious bunch overall but they were slightly sceptical of their new elven Arlessa. Liao was quickly realising how much work it was going to take to really learn how to operate the keep and for the guards to trust her fully.

It still felt odd that only a year ago Liao had been recruited into the Grey Wardens because she had been a foolish child with too much curiosity. Her desire to explore those old, Tevinter ruins in the Brecilian Forest had resulted in the death of her friend,Tamlen, and had nearly killed her as well had it not been for Fereldan's Warden-Commander. Now she had become the Warden-Commander herself and had received the extra responsibility of being the first high-ranking Warden to own a significant amount of land. The land of Amaranthine came with farmers, merchants. knights, vassals and all of the local politics. Sometimes she felt like she was becoming more human with each passing day and she had to rub her pointy ears for reassurance.

At least the servants around the keep were mostly human, unlike the ones from Denerim Palace. For some reason, this put Liao at ease and she felt she could trust them a bit more than she would have done with elven servants. If she could have had it her way, there wouldn't be any servants at all but the keep was large and there were too many jobs for one Arlessa to do on her own.

The morning after her arrival, Seneschal Varel had insisted on touring Liao around so that she may meet the men and women that now served under her. He also introduced to her to an older woman named Mistress Woolsey who had been assigned to watch over the Amaranthine treasury by the head of the Grey Wardens in Weisshaupt. She didn't seem like an interesting woman nor had she actually visited the famous Weisshaupt Fortress at any point in her life, but she was Liao's lifeline to the rest of the order outside of Ferelden.

Liao had seen very little of her companions since their arrival at Vigil's Keep. Shale had taken a liking to the throne room's large book selection but she wouldn't say why the books were so interesting to her. Wynne and Leliana kept to themselves, mostly whispering and giggling whenever Liao got too close to overhear them. Zevran was harder to spot as he was more interested in exploring every corner of the new area and was often too elusive even for Liao to keep up with. He had been particularly quiet since the announcement at Denerim and had been avoiding direct conversation with anyone.

Lunch that afternoon consisted of vegetables, meat, and bread. Liao was always fascinated with breads and cheeses since they showed off the benefits of farming and stationary living that the humans excelled at. Most of the men and women in the dining hall could be seen stuffing the bread with the other ingredients, bits of steak or pork with potatoes, carrots, onions and just enough cheese to melt amongst it all. They ate the few with their hands instead of using the cutlery provided. At first it looked barbaric to the Dalish, but once she tried it herself she knew what she had been missing out on. She never could understand Leliana's opinion of how bland and boring Fereldan food was, to her everything was a new and wonderful experience.

"I've always been fond of talking business on a full stomach," the seneschal laughed.

"Business? I was hoping we'd just talk about the weather or the flight patterns of the local birds," Liao added cheerfully as she finished her meal. In a distant corner of the room she could hear Shale groaning at the mentioning of birds.

"There's plenty of time to discuss such things," Varel said, "But on a serious note, it is critical that the two of us learn how to work together. I imagine you'll be kept busy with Grey Warden business and you'll need someone you can rely on to maintain the Arling."

"To be honest, I haven't thought much about it yet. I'm not sure really where to begin," Liao said hesitantly, hoping her indecisiveness didn't make her appear weak.

"That's what I am here for," Varel reminded the young elf, feeling almost as if he was old enough to be her grandfather instead of her seneschal, "I can handle most day-to-day things that affect the keep or the local area and can ask for your opinion on only the major decisions such as settling major disputes or managing the garrison's movements. You can keep the Grey Warden stuff to your own if that would make you feel more comfortable, though I do know a thing or two about your rituals. Does that sound fair enough?"

"I would prefer that, yes. My expertise lies in combat and strategy, not with politics. The whole Denerim Landsmeet situation was a one-off experience for me," Liao agreed.

"I don't expect things will get quite that complicated out here in Amaranthine. Well, that's settled then, it's important to me that I can be on the same wavelength as my Arlessa. I have learned the hard way how much trouble one can get in if they don't agree with the nobles," Varel said, alluding to his past experiences with Arl Howe.

"That reminds me to ask, do you think there is any strong sentiment around here for the previous Arl?" Liao asked what had been gnawing at her every time she passed a portrait of one of the Howes in the keep.

"It's a strong possibility," the seneschal admitted, "If you really concerned about it, I can investigate the issue further for you. I don't think you will have much difficulty rallying local support, even given your background. Fereldans tend to revere their heroes with great respect and loyalty."

"I don't know if there is anything worth investigating but if I feel more uneasy about it, I might take you up on that offer," Liao assured him.

"Right. Now may I ask you something?" Varel inquired and Liao nodded to allow him to continue, "Have you heard anything about the Grey Wardens being sent from Orlais? All I have is this one letter from Val Royeaux from two weeks ago but the Wardens haven't arrived yet."

"I didn't know they had actually sent anyone," Liao began, "Alistair seemed to think they would inevitably send some Wardens to help us train new recruits. But we never heard anything directly from them."

"Well, that is interesting,. Perhaps they ran into some bad weather near the mountains? Though I am not sure whether they were coming by land or sea, the letter wasn't very specific. Do you want to read over it?" Varel offered a small envelope made of parchment and containing a waxed seal featuring a Grey Warden griffin.

Liao took the object slowly, hoping the seneschal wasn't expecting her to read it right then. It would be a bit embarrassing to explain to the human that she had not properly learned how to read or write in the common language of the people. Her Dalish clan had always stressed the importance of learning the remnants of the Dalish language so they could translate old artefacts without confusing the language with Common, "Sure, I'll glance over it later. Thanks for bringing it to my attention."

"Of course. Now I must take my leave, I'm afraid. If you need anything, I'll be at my usual post," the seneschal bowed and left the room to attend to his duties.

Liao looked down at the envelope in her hands. She knew that it would be her responsibility to recruit the new Fereldan Wardens and to train them but she sure hoped the Orlesians would send some experienced Wardens to help here with the task. According to the maps she had seen of southern Thedas, it should take no more than two weeks to travel from Val Royeaux to Amaranthine. Perhaps they weren't sending experienced Wardens after all.

Later in the day, Liao caught Zevran sneaking around the treasury. It seemed his tendency to steal precious objects had shown itself again.

"Oi, what are you doing down here?" Liao shouted and the male elf stopped suddenly, with his hands hovering over his sheathed daggers.

"Hey, Liao! You really should know better than to sneak up on assassin while he is shopping," he said casually as he turned around to face her.

"Shopping? Or _stealing_? From _my_ treasury? That's low, even for you," Liao crossed her arms and gave him a disapproving look.

"Ah no, you see, I was just making sure everything was safe. From would-be thieves. If you must know, the security looks pretty solid to me. Guess my work is done here," Zevran made an attempt to move past Liao but she blocked his path.

"You've been avoiding me," she stated matter-of-factly, satisfied that she finally had the other elf cornered.

Zevran sighed, it wasn't often that anyone could trap him so easily, "Maybe I have. What does it matter?"

"We're friends, Zev. You shouldn't be afraid of me," the Warden looked slightly offended.

"Afraid of you? No, no. There may be things that I fear, but you are certainly not one of them," Zevran looked around and realised he was going to have to engage in the discussion he hadn't wanted to have. "So when are you going to ask me to become a Grey Warden?" he asked bluntly.

Liao look taken aback, she had assumed Zevran was unhappy about her engagement with Alistair, not that he was worried about being conscripted into the Grey Wardens, "What?"

"It's bound to come up eventually, isn't it? I agreed to stay on with you after the Blight. I'm not returning to the Crows or to Antiva so in order to stay here I'll have to become one of your soldiers, yes?" Zevran said, sounding like he dreaded the idea of being one of her soldiers.

"You don't have to stay with me if it makes you unhappy, Zevran," Liao reminded him. "I could use some experienced fighters to help me train the new recruits, definitely, but you've never been obligated to do anything you didn't already want to do."

Zevran sighed deeply, "The thing is, Liao, I do _want_ it. I'm just nervous. I've heard rumours about the Joining and I know there are no guarantees. It would please me a great deal to remain at your side as your loyal friend but I also enjoy living."

"So, do you want to do it or not? It's your decision," Liao said coolly. If he already knew what to expect from the Joining, there was no need to warn him about his chances of living through it.

"I do," he said quietly. "And I'm sorry, for avoiding you. It's been a big decision to think about, as you can imagine."

"I didn't have the luxury of choice when it came to my Joining," Liao said bitterly, remembering her experience at Ostagar.

"Ok, that's settled then," Zevran concluded.

"Zev, put the gems back," Liao sighed, noticing he had slipped a few in his pocket while they had been talking. He gave a half-smile before putting the objects back where he had taken them from.

"Can't blame an elf for trying."

The familiar structure of the keep loomed before him against the night sky. The moon was obscured by clouds that evening and the only light game from the occasional lit torch along the keeps ramparts. The guardsmen were just as predictable as ever, never having to test their strength in a real combat situation. Their weapons were sheathed and their glances over the walls were casual at best. A sudden, fierce wind blew the man's dark hair behind him as he watched the patrols below, indicating a rain storm was brewing nearby.

He crouched between the overlapping roofs of two buildings that lined the walls outside the bailey. His position was near enough to the gatehouse that he could hear the orders being called out between the guards on watch duty. The first trickles of rain fell and lightning could be seen in the distance.

The thief unsheathed a shortsword slowly before he leapt casually onto the fortified, external wall of the keep. He quickly ducked behind some barrels of equipment as one of the guards walked towards his location. Had the guard been looking for him, he still would have been easy to see despite his attempt at camouflage. However, the guard was more interested in asking his mate further down the wall to relieve him for the evening.

He took advantage of the distracted guard and ran quickly in the opposite direction, past one of the guards towers which gave him a bit of cover and a moment to predict his next move. The human looked down below, remembering the layout of the buildings within the bailey almost instantly. He dropped down a metre onto a wooden roof, hoping it would support his weight. He was now visible from the internal wall of the keep where more guards would have been posted.

Without hesitation, he ran along the roof tops seeking a weak point through the next wall. Eventually he settled on the smoking chimney as his best chance for cover. The drop to the ground was still too high for him to consider but he did note a lack of guards on the interior wall's ramparts. Unless he wanted to go directly through the inner-gate, he would need not only to find a way down from his current vantage point, but would also need to find a way up to the next wall.

A casual glance around showed a garden was being kept in a corner where the great stone walls intersected one another. There were some vine-like plants being grown against a lattice work of wood that ran up the wall that connected with the one the thief wanted to bypass. He decided he was going to have to take his chances with jumping off the roof of a second-story building and make a dash for the unassuming garden. The lighting wasn't particularly good along the path he would need to take so he hoped it was a sign that nobody would be around to interfere with his manoeuvre.

The thief jumped from his current position to land on the ground below with a thud. He managed to roll onto his feet but was sure his landing would have alerted some observant guards. He noticed the activity of the guards on the exterior wall increased as the men began to converse with one another in eagerness but nobody had rang any sort of alarm yet. The infiltrator didn't hesitate and was up the lattice work within seconds.

The guards in the inner keep were more alert and numerous. He knew he would have to fight his way in at some point but wasn't ready to commit to it just yet. Instead, he dropped down over the inner wall and wedged himself between two colourful merchant tents. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of donning a disguise from one of the tents and waltzing in through the front door but it was a fool's notion given how late at night it was. The guards here wouldn't be as easily distracted as those near the exterior gatehouse.

He looked up at the familiar tower that dominated the keep itself. There was a window he knew very well when he was younger that sat atop a short length of staggered stone bricks. With the rain starting to obscure his vision, he couldn't make out clearly if the landmark was still the same as he remembered it but he knew it was the right window. He made his way through the merchant's row and found a rotting ladder near the window he was interested in. He managed to climb up it without breaking a leg, despite the weak boards, and threw himself at the highly textured wall. From there, he was able to pull himself up the bricks by his arm strength alone. The window was easily opened with a lockpick and he made his way inside the tower without much notice.

Liao was having a hard time sleeping that night. Most people found rain storms to be relaxing but the lightning flashes kept her wide awake and the accompanying thunder made her uneasy. Her room was large and the thunder echoed louder than the dripping rain. It had only been her second night sleeping alone in quite some time but she already found it awkward. No matter how she lay in the bed, she couldn't get comfortable.

Another roar of thunder shook the room and she jumped suddenly. What would Ferelden think if they knew the woman who slew the Archdemon was scared of a simple storm? She shook her head at the absurdity of it and lit one of the oil lamps near the bedside. There was no point in trying to sleep during this weather, even if she was protected by the shelter of the keep.

Perhaps she would wander down to the kitchen and find a jug of milk. Humans often said that warm milk was a good way to ease restless nerves. Before she could decide on that, however, she heard the creaking noise of an opening door from the direction of the hallway that joined with her own room. It was late at night, probably early morning by now, and the sound was indicative of someone being awake. For some reason, the hairs on the back of the elf's neck prickled. There were rumours that Vigil's Keep was haunted by the spirits of the Avvar barbarians that had first built it so many Ages ago.

Instinctively, she grabbed her yew longbow and back quiver by the bed side. If anything, it would reassure her a little bit to hold the familiar wood in her longbow wasn't an ideal weapon for indoor combat but it was the only bow she preferred to use on a regular basis. She didn't put the quiver on over her shoulders but instead laid it on the bed and took out a single arrow and knocked it against the arrow's rest. She didn't draw the string back fully until she heard the sound of footsteps outside her door. Her hands clenched and her heart began to race.

The door opened quietly as if it had been picked open from outside. Liao didn't wait to see who was trying to sneak in, however, and she unleashed the stored energy of her drawn bow. The arrow smashed into the stone wall of the hallway and missed the human's head by mere millimetres. He had dropped instantly to the floor when he heard the loosed arrow. She hurriedly knocked another arrow before noting that the face of the human man was unfamiliar. The light from the single lamp in the room made him look sinister and dangerous.

Before the man could move again, Liao trained her arrow on him and demanded, "I wouldn't move if I were you. Who are you?"

"You must be the Warden-Commander," the man said in a flowery, upper-class accent. "You have much prettier toes than I expected."

The man was eye-level with Liao's feet. She took the hint that it was a rather odd position to be in for interrogation, "You may get up. _Slowly_. Drop all your weapons. And answer my question!"

The man did as she asked and dropped a shortsword, dagger, and a shortbow with quiver at his feet. It was his first chance to see what she really looked like. He had known she was an elf but nobody had indicated that she was Dalish, no wonder she was able to nearly lob his head off from his shoulders, "I'm the true owner of this keep. My name is Nathaniel Howe."

Liao felt her blood chill at the realisation that this man must have been the son of Rendon Howe. He had a similar face structure and his eyes were a cool greyish-blue colour. He was certainly young, given his long black hair.

"Your family owns nothing now," she chided him, "Arl Howe was a traitor to Ferelden. He was a _despicable_ man who deserved the death that he got!"

"Murderer!" was all Nathaniel could retort with, the anger in his voice was full of venom. He made an effort to move forward but before he could reach one of his weapons and thrust it into the elven Commander, the sound of rattling armour could be heard in the hallway and several men poured into the room to restrain him.

"What's going on here?" the captain of the guard, Garevel, demanded.

"I think I've just thwarted an assassination attempt," Liao said casually, lowering her bow and loosening the strung arrow.

Captain Garevel looked embarrassed, maybe it was a combination of the fact that his men had failed to protect the Commander or the fact that the Commander was dressed in nothing more than a short nightgown, "I apologise that he was able to reach you. What do you want done with him now?"

"I'd like to talk to him some more when I've put on something more, uh, appropriate," Liao felt ridiculous for letting her men see her in her night-time attire.

"I have nothing to say to you!" Nathaniel barked at her but one of the guards nudged him sternly and he promptly quieted down.

"We'll take care of him," Captain Garevel assured her, "I'll watch over him personally. Come to the dungeons at your earliest convenience, ser." The captain bowed respectfully and ushered his men out of Liao's bedchambers.

Liao had thrown on a pair of pants and a baggy tunic that was tightened by an ordinary belt. She wore her usual pair of leather boots and sported a slung bow and quiver. Because it was still raining, she draped a bland-looking cloak over her shoulders and wore the hood up briefly as she crossed the short distance between the two buildings. Had Leliana been awake, she probably would have been horrified by Liao's cobbled together fashion.

"Commander," Captain Garevel greeted Liao with a salute.

"At ease, captain," she said. "What's the situation?"

"He won't talk to us," Garevel sighed, "and I doubt you'll get much out of him either. If it were up to me, I'd hang him. He's a trespasser at the very least and probably would have been a thief and an assassin if he hadn't been caught. That's ignoring how insane he must be for admiring his father. But you're the Commander around here so it's really up to you, ser."

"Your opinions are noted. I haven't decided anything yet," Liao wasn't as upset as a potential assassin victim ought to have been. If anything, she was intrigued by how the man had managed to single-handily infiltrated the keep. He must be an experienced rogue to pull such an act off and Liao was in the business of needing experienced fighters. The Grey Wardens had never discriminated against criminals before so long as they were capable in a fight against darkspawn.

"I thought the Warden-Commander was a woman, but now she shows up looking like a man," Nathaniel laughed to himself from within the safety of his prison.

"You want to come out here and say that?" Liao invited him.

"Not if you're going to shoot at my head again, no thanks," the human backed off.

"So I guess it's safe to assume you want me dead," Liao began. "But what did you hope to accomplish with that? The keep would have only been given to my second-in-command if you had succeeded."

"It doesn't matter who owns it now. All I wanted was justice," Nathaniel whispered.

"Are you _aware_ of your father's crimes? He ignited d a civil war, he murdered the Couslands, he allowed elves to be enslaved and sent to Tevinter, he tortured countless innocents in Denerim, he imprisoned an Orlesian Grey Warden," she listed the atrocities one by one, counting them off on her fingers as she spoke.

"And that justifies you killing him in his own home? I guess they don't call you _Grey_ Wardens for nothing," the human argued. "Aren't you supposed to be politically neutral?"

"There was a _Blight_! I needed an army and your father's war was soaking up all the young soldiers in Ferelden," Liao yelled, outraged that this man was so convinced that she had done wrong.

At that moment, a guard entered the room and ran towards the captain, "Captain! We have a problem. Darkspawn have been spotted in the basements. We put up a temporary barricade but it won't hold for long," she shouted almost incoherently, not even noticing the presence of the commander.

"Calm down, Sergeant," the captain urged her. "The Commander is here, she'll deal with the threat."

"I will?" Liao was still focused on interrogating Nathaniel and had little interest in fighting anything. "I'm not even wearing proper armour."

"There's no time for that!" Sergeant Maverlies insisted. Liao was almost embarrassed for the estranged sergeant, she would never have reacted so irrationally to the appearance of a few darkspawn.

"Don't mind me, I'll just sit here safely in my cell," Nathaniel mused. The Warden-Commander looked at the rogue with contempt but noticed _he _was wearing a full set of leather armour.

"Captain, where are those keys? I'm letting him out," Liao said suddenly.

"What?" both the captain and Nathaniel asked. "Is that wise, ser?" Captain Garevel added.

"We don't have _time_ for wisdom here. I need to fight some darkspawn and this man is obviously an efficient fighter. Don't worry, I'll return him when this is over. _If_ he lives through it," the commander put her hand out for Garevel to give her the keys and he conceded them to her. She unlocked the door to Nathaniel's cell.

"You have a queer idea of punishment," Nathaniel said as he approached the opened door. "But I won't question it."

"Come on," Liao threw the assassin his bow and quiver but didn't return his blades, "And stay in front of me so I can see your back." To the captain she said, "Captain, please wake my companions up. They are experts at dealing with darkspawn. I don't expect this to be a huge battle, for we would already be overrun if it were. I would rather not put your men at risk if I don't have to."

"What about me, ser?" the frantic sergeant asked, suddenly wanting to be involved.

"Come with me or stay out of my way, it doesn't matter. Just don't cut off your own leg or anything," Liao quipped. The sergeant blushed with embarrassment but decided to follow Liao and Nathaniel as they left the small building.

The entrance to the basements was conveniently next door to the same building that held the prison cells. Darkspawn hurlocks, wielding long, two-handed swords, and genlocks, wielding crudely-made bows, were already emerging from the door. Their numbers weren't overwhelming nor did they seem particularly organised. But it was enough of them to frighten the keep's guards who had not seen many of the creatures since the Blight.

Liao wondered briefly how deep the basement complex ran under the keep and if it was connected to the dwarven Deep Roads. She would have to worry about that later. She knocked an arrow from her quiver and delivered a killing blow to an unsuspecting genlock's forehead.

"These are the weak ones, they'll go down fast," Liao assured her fellow combatants. Guards around the keep were shouting at one another and demanding orders. "Sergeant, do me a favour. Tell the guards to keep an eye out for any more darkspawn but do not engage the ones in the basement. I want to bottleneck them and keep this situation under control."

"Yes, ser," the sergeant saluted her commander before running off to pass on the orders.

"Don't you think she would have been useful fighting with us? We're both archers and she had a sword," Nathaniel pointed out.

"How many Blights have you stopped recently?" Liao countered while she fired off another shot that instantly killed another of the corrupted creatures.

"Point taken," Nathaniel also loaded an arrow and shot one of the hurlocks cleanly in the neck. There was a small pile of 3 or 4 darkspawn accumulating at the door of the building now that was impeding the progress of the rest of the group from within.

Liao felt her skin harden slightly as if by magic. She turned her head for a moment to see Wynne, Leliana, Zevran, and Shale charging down the keep's steps to join them. None of them were wearing armour either but Wynne's spell would help protect their skin just as well.

"Having fun without us?" Shale commented.

"You know me," Liao laughed.

"Who's this handsome man?" Leliana asked, indicating Nathaniel.

"Someone not interested in Orlesian women," Nathaniel spat out coldly when he heard her accent.

"Oh, just another guy who's attempted to assassinate me. I'll tell you more later," Liao said while she fired her bow again, managing to keep the darkspawn pinned down at the door while Shale got into position.

"She is a hard mark, isn't she?" Zevran said to Nathaniel before unsheathing his daggers and charging forward with Shale. The rain outside began to pour in abundance as the fight began.

Shale ripped the door off its hinges and cleared the pile of dead darkspawn so that she could thrown her stone fists more cleanly at the victims inside. Leliana joined her fellow melee fighters with an unsheathed longsword in one hand and a delicate dagger in the other. Wynne stayed close to the archers so she could use healing magic without drawing too much attention. Nathaniel was impressed with how well the group worked together and how they relied on each other without saying much of anything at all.

The group managed to push further into the small building as Shale cleared a path for them. Shale's large, obsidian body was not only useful at hurting the enemy or shrugging off projectiles, but also at moving rapidly through obstacles. She had picked up a hurlock by the neck and was wielding him like a weapon at his fellows. Leliana and Zevran relied on Shale to distract the enemies while they engaged their foes from behind or on their flanks. The air around the group was full of magical energy as Wynne kept everyone energised and refreshed. _For an old woman she isn't half bad in a fight_, Nathaniel thought to himself.

Liao stood at the top of the stairs that descended into the subterranean level of the building and Nathaniel stood at the base of the stairs with his shorter reaching bow. She kept a close eye on him, letting him pick off the easier targets while she focused on the more threatening hurlock and genlock alphas in the back of the room. He was certainly a good shot and knew how to focus in a chaotic situation though she couldn't predict how well he would perform in a more open setting. She almost hoped the darkspawn would have a few emissary mages in their number so she could see how well he reacted to magic attacks.

Almost on cue, a horned emissary emerged up the stairs from the room adjacent to the one everyone was fighting in. It waived its staff in the air and flames began to encircle it as it prepared a notoriously powerful fireball spell.

"Emissary!" Zevran shouted to warn the rest but everyone had already spotted it. Leliana had thrown one of a dead darkspawn's discarded swords at the emissary's head in an attempt to distract it. Zevran followed the attack up by tossing a small jar full of a poisonous liquid that was designed to explode on impact and douse the mage in a paralysing concoction.

"Focus fire!" Liao yelled. Even if the emissary wore weaker armour than other types darkspawn, they only tended to show up with other emissaries and just before a large ogre. They were a sign that the darkspawn were resorting to desperate, cheap tactics and were willing to throw anything at their foes.

Within a matter of seconds, the emissary was down and another had come to replace it. Wynne managed to knock the new mage back with an earth-elemental attack that looked like a giant fist of stone being hurled at the target. All three of the melee combatants had dodged out of the way of the offensive magic but the darkspawn they had been fighting with had not. Wynne's spell managed to knock down the weaker foes in its path and Nathaniel finished them off with precise head shots. Liao conserved her arrows in case an ogre was about to come charging at the group but after the second emissary died the room fell silent.

Nathaniel lower his bow, expecting the combat to be over but the rest of the Warden's companions kept their weapons out and ready. The golem looked as if she were picking darkspawn blood out of her crystalline nails. The rogues, Leliana and Zevran, were investigating side rooms for any leftover creatures. Liao had come down the steps to join Wynne and Nathaniel at the centre of what was left of the battlefield.

"That door over there is where the emissaries came from," Liao pointed to the north. "It looks to low for Shale to get through."

"Thanks for reminding me. I am really self-conscious of my size if it recalls," the golem remarked.

"The side rooms seem empty of darkspawn and useful trinkets," Zevran added.

"I'm going to look down this way for a moment. Nathaniel, with me," Liao waved the human towards her. She didn't trust him enough to leave him on his own yet.

The two archers wandered down the hallway that connected to the original room for a short while before they noticed a caved in ceiling. The wooden panels of the hallway had given way to bedrock and the wooden supports seemed incredibly old. The caved in ceiling consisted of rock and stone instead of timber.

"Definitely looks like it could connect with some sort of dwarven architecture," Liao said more to herself than to Nathaniel.

"This keep is old. It's been around since the Avvar tribes, you know. Maybe it's possible that they used these tunnels to trade with the dwarves in ancient times," Nathaniel thought out loud.

"You used to live here, right? Have you ever been down here before?" Liao asked her fellow rogue.

"No, never down here. It was always forbidden. We were told as kids that these tunnels were haunted by old spirits. And if you could have heard the way my mother told those stories, you would have believed them," the human said, sounding a lot less hostile than he had earlier.

"I guess the rocks must have caved in when the darkspawn ran through here, there's no where else they could have came through," Liao said thoughtfully, "We'll have to find a way to seal this area off better in the future. Anyway, let's go meet the others. I would love to get some actual sleep tonight."

The two rogues met with the rest of Liao's companion outside the small building. The rain had stopped and the cool breeze in the air felt refreshing against her skin. The stench of darkspawn blood began to filter out from the basements below but otherwise the keep seemed as normal as it had before the fight.

"Well, that's enough excitement for one night," Liao yawned and some of her companions did likewise. "Back to your cell, Nathaniel. I'll deal with you later. Try to stay out of trouble."

"Ah, am I to be Vigil's Keep's mascot now?" Nathaniel joked but he was a lot more docile than he had been earlier in the evening. He figured being locked up in a cell was a lot better than being hung at any rate.

The next time Liao lay in her bed she had no difficulty falling asleep.


	4. Chapter 4 Conscription

The following morning, Liao was awoken quite suddenly when Leliana jumped on her bed. The young elf groaned and dug her head on her pillow, hoping the human girl would leave her alone. By her estimates, she would have barely gotten 5 hours of sleep. She could already hear the morning birds chirping outside the window and could see the bright light of morning beginning to cascade over the room.

"Wake up, sleepy!" Leliana giggled at her friend and pulled the pillow off of Liao's head.

"What, more darkspawn?" Liao mumbled as she reached for another pillow to hide beneath.

"No, we're going to the city today. We need to leave as early as possible. Come on, get dressed and have some breakfast," the bard urged as she tried to pull Liao out of the bed by her arms.

"Can't we go later? I haven't even talked to Varel yet about what happened last night," Liao rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and caught herself just as Leliana had managed to pull her to the floor.

"You can tell him about it over breakfast. We need to go _shopping_!" the bard sang and for a moment gave up on pulling Liao's limbs.

"Seriously? We have to go shopping right _now_?" Liao threw the remaining pillow at Leliana out of annoyance.

"Yes, we do! You said Wynne and I could help plan the wedding. You're going to need a dress and _shoes," _Leliana moved over to the window to open the curtains fully and the light blinded the sleepy elf for a moment before she adjusted to it.

"This must be a human thing," Liao grumbled to herself. "Ok, fine, whatever. Just let me put some clothes on and we can sort this out over breakfast."

By the time Liao had made her way down to the dining hall, Leliana and Wynne had already finished their meals. Shale just grunted in greeting and went back to digging through a pile of old Tevinter books that she had collected from around the keep. Liao spotted Captain Garevel already talking with Seneschal Varel at the officer's table.

"Ah, Commander, it is good to see you are well today," Varel greeted Liao as she approached the two men. "Sounds like I missed out last night."

"You didn't miss much. Just a few darkspawn, nothing to get worked up over," Liao shrugged and began piling eggs and sausages onto a plate.

"I'm glad you can be so relaxed about it," the seneschal chuckled. To non-Grey Wardens, darkspawn were the most fearsome creatures in the world aside from dragons.

"We repaired that barricade early this morning," Garevel added. "But one of the dwarves reckons we should dig deeper into the tunnels and find a more permanent position to seal off."

"Very good, sounds taken care of," Liao was more interested in eating than in conversing.

"One of your friends mentioned you were travelling to Amaranthine today, ser," Varel began casually, "It'll be a nice day to visit. You should probably introduce yourself to Constable Aidan while you're there. He heads the city watch and would be happy to meet you in person."

"I'll do that if I get the opportunity," Liao said. She wasn't going to get a choice on whether she wanted to go to the city or not that day, it seemed to all have been decided for her. The elf should have known how persuasive Leliana could be by now. What annoyed her most wasn't the plans to go to the city themselves but that she wasn't involved in the planning process. Leliana only gave her a large smile when she looked over at her.

Within the next hour, Liao found herself following the North Road to Amaranthine with Leliana and Wynne. They had debated about riding on horseback but Wynne wasn't thrilled about the idea given her long mage robes. Liao was excited about the idea of learning how to ride horses at some point. The concept had fascinated her since she had first seen horses in Ferelden though they had been few in number since the Blight. She had heard stories about armoured knights called a cavalry that had fought against the Orlesians during the Fereldan Rebellion. The girls had compromised on the debate by agreeing to ride horses on the way back to Vigil's Keep.

They knew they were close to the city walls when they came across an assortment of refugee camps. Not everyone had been able to find work or rebuild their homes in and around Denerim after the short-lived Blight. The darkspawn horde had destroyed much of Denerim's infrastructure and had sent thousands of people scurrying to the safety of the north. The camps were relatively organised with families sharing tents and camp fires with one another. It almost looked like a large, Dalish camp from afar only with human inhabitants instead of elves.

The three women were only harassed a couple of times by beggars on their way towards the Amaranthine gates. They all felt guilty for turning each of the refugees away but they had little themselves to give. Some of the beggars were children that claimed they had been orphaned but Leliana told her friends that it was hard to tell whether they were genuine or not and if they wanted to make any donations they should do so through the Chantry.

Amongst the refugees, there were a few shady individuals that seemed to prey on the misfortune and chaos. Food seemed ample enough but other goods were being tightly controlled by small gangs of smugglers who could take advantage of the desperate and downtrodden. Leliana caught one such man trying to pickpocket her. She roughly twisted his arm around as he reached for her side satchel. The lowly thief gave up without a fight and ran off down an alleyway in search of a more unsuspecting victim.

The presence of guards in splintmail armour increased as they got closer to the city's gates. Liao could never quite grasp why the splintmail in particular was so common throughout Ferelden. Maybe it was easy to produce in abundance. Maybe it was simply easier to wear than heavy chainmail or required less time to put on than plate. To the young rogue's mind, it was better suited for moving about than it was in protecting the wearer from heavy blows though it still wasn't an ideal material for close-combat manoeuvres.

At the city gates themselves, there was a checkpoint of sorts set up by a few guards that wore armour that was shiny enough to reflect the morning sun. They were probably checking refugees and other visitors for smuggled goods or keeping an eye out for suspicious characters. When it was Liao's turn to be checked, one of the guards got suspicious due to her wearing a full suit of leather gear and all her weaponry being clearly visible. Leliana and Wynne had looked a lot less conspicuous in their more traditional day-to-day clothes but the Warden-Commander wasn't in the habit of travelling around Ferelden without being prepared for anything.

"Sorry, ma'am, but we've been told to check everyone. Constable's orders," the guardsmen told her in a tone of voice that indicated he wasn't at all apologetic. He seemed to rather enjoy the chance to show off his authority in front of his fellow soldiers. As an aside he added, "Mind you, you're going to get a lot of attention dressed like that. This is a city not a battlefield."

"Are you one of Constable Aidan's men?" Liao asked, hoping that there wasn't any other constable for the city of Amaranthine. She was prepared to create a scene if she felt her dignity was being infringed upon too much by such a runt of a guardsman.

The man looked worried suddenly, "Yes, ma'am."

"Bring him to me. And address me as 'ser'. I outrank you," she enjoyed watching his face turn from a boastful expression to one of panic. He didn't stick around long for her to relish it, however. Within a few seconds, another figure in heavy armour appeared. He had short, curly blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"I am Constable Aidan," the man said. He looked confused as to why he had been summoned.

"I'm Warden-Commander Liao, the new Arlessa of Amaranthine," she put out her hand out in greeting and he shook it vigorously.

"I had no idea you were coming into the city today. It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" the constable was genuinely excited to meet Ferelden's latest hero and was trying to ignore the embarrassment that his subordinate had just caused.

"It was a bit of a surprise visit, I'll admit," Liao gave Leliana a look as she said it but the red-head was too heavily engaged in a giggle-filled conversation with Wynne.

"Are these two lovely ladies with you then, ser?" Constable Aidan had followed Liao's gaze, the two women burst into more laughter but didn't say anything.

"They are. I don't often travel alone. The three of us do much together. Such as destroying darkspawn hordes, slaying archdemons, and shopping," this was said more for the rude guardsmen's benefit, so that he knew exactly who he had chosen to harass that day. Unfortunately, it also had the effect of encouraging whatever it was that her two companions had found so amusing and the two were nearly on the street in tears.

"Let me make this up to you then," the constable said, though now the laughter was becoming infectious and he found himself smiling for no apparent reason. "The Crown and Lion has just received a new shipment of their famous ale. Allow me to buy you a round or two."

"That sounds lovely," Wynne managed to say as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Mm, beer," was all Leliana could say before the giggles took over her again.

"That's very kind. Lead on, ser," Liao agreed to the offer.

The four of them spent a brief time at the Crown and Lion Inn as it was still a bit early in the day and the constable had other business to deal with. The girls finally stopped giggling and revealed to Liao that Wynne had been lustfully eyeing Aidan before he had been summoned over by the rude guard. The young elf still couldn't figure out why they had found it so funny.

The girls decided that before they were to go shopping that they should settle the matter with the local chantry about the marriage ceremony. Liao had her reservations about it but the two humans agreed that if she wanted to include a human ceremony that the Chantry would have to be involved. Part of the young elf wanted to just do the Dalish bonding ceremony and skip all the fancy song and dance and costumes that seemed to come with a human one.

Liao could hear the familiar sound of the Chant of Light as they got closer to the local chantry. It was the usual portion of the chant that was recited in the human cities, the Canticle of Transfiguration. Basically, it was the Chantry's way of reminding citizens to follow the basic tenants of good morality: don't murder, don't steal, don't lie, don't worship false gods, and magic is bad. The last two bits were the ones that rubbed Liao wrong. The false gods portion of the chant was directed at her people specifically and magic was nothing that needed to feared. 

Overall the Chantry did good charity work in the human lands but they had some questionable policies and methods. Their religion worshipped one single god, the Maker, who had turned his back on his creation because the Tevinter magisters of old had corrupted his city, or something like that. It was supposed to be the Chantry's version of where darkspawn came from but it was mostly their way of saying "Don't disobey the Maker or bad things will happen". It was also their rationale for their complete mistrust and hatred of magic. 

_"Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him._  
_Foul and corrupt are they_  
_Who have taken His gift_  
_And turned it against His children._  
_They shall be named Maleficar, accursed ones._  
_They shall find no rest in this world_  
_Or beyond,"_ the chanter droned on. 

Liao shook her head at it all. The verse gave no reason as to why mages had to be treated like prisoners. If anything, she was mildly surprised that mages weren't used as slaves in Ferelden. They were just tossed into a tower, locked up, and forced to repent for daring to be born with the gift of magic. 

The Dalish keepers used magic as well and were the reason that the Dalish people were nomadic. The whole clan had to be constantly on the move to avoid the attention of the Chantry's templars, warriors trained to hunt magic users. They had been forced out of their homeland, the Dales, by an Exalted March led by the Chantry during the Glory Age not long after the Second Blight. The Dalish had lost two homelands, one of which had been given to them by Andraste, the prophet of the Maker herself. Now the Dalish elves were nothing but a broken people without a home. They had little patience for the Chantry of Andraste and its teachings. 

"Oh, this is the Chantry of our Lady Redeemer! This is where Andraste revealed the Chant of Light before she went to fight against the Tevinter Imperium. There's so much history here," Leliana remarked as they ascended the steps towards the chantry. A statue of Andraste greeted them in front of the chantry's grandly decorated doors. 

What would Andraste think of how the Chantry treated mages and the Dalish now? She always looked so peaceful and poignant in her statue form. But Andraste was a warrior, a leader of men and women. She may have been the Maker's beloved but she knew a thing or two about justice and equality, something the distant god figure didn't seem to understand at all. Liao bowed her head respectfully at the stone figure's feet. She had no love for the Chantry itself but her heart filled for Andraste, who had been betrayed by the one she loved. 

The three women entered the chantry proper and were met with silence as the few Andrastians inside were deep in meditation and prayer. The Reverend Mother wasn't seen near the altar at the head of the room. There were a few female templars talking quietly to one another in one of the alcoves. The ceilings were high with large, stained glass windows. The numerous amount of books and religious symbols showed off the chantry's wealth. 

A priestess appeared out of no where to greet them, "Welcome to the Chantry of our Lady Redeemer. How may we help you today?" 

"We need to speak with the Reverend Mother, is she available?" Wynne asked. 

"She may be in the middle of afternoon prayers at the moment, but let me go check. What is this matter concerning?" the priestess asked. 

Liao looked at Wynne for support. The elder mage nodded encouragingly, "Um, it's about a marriage." 

The priestess stared at Liao for a moment, not comprehending. Liao's facial tattoos were one of the first features humans noticed about her usually, most of the time she didn't even have to explain that she was Dalish to them. The woman in the brightly coloured priestess robes asked finally, "For whom? For you?" 

Liao felt foolish, but she had promised she'd try and keep the ceremony friendly to both human and Dalish cultures. She hated asking the chantry for anything, least of all permission to ordane her wedding. The Dalish never made such a fuss about rituals and rules. "For me, yes." 

"Is the man a follower of Andraste?" 

"Yes." 

"Are you?" 

"No." 

"I see," the priestess looked baffled. She had probably never met a pagan before in her life and would assume Liao was some sort of heathen that believed in blood sacrifices or some other nonsense. 

Wynne spoke up again, in her softer voice,"Perhaps this is something we could discuss with her reverence? Please do not past judgement on my friend here. Doesn't the Maker love all His children equally, even the non-believers?" 

The priestess couldn't think of a non-offensive response. Lucky for her, the Reverend Mother of the Chantry had just joined the small group by the door. "Let us converse in my office." 

The old woman led them to one of the backrooms of the building that featured a desk, several bookshelves, and enough chair for all the women to sit in. Liao, however, chose to stand as she was feeling incredibly nervous as she heard the chanting and singing beginning in the main room. She felt like her presence would somehow defile the holy site simply because she believed in the Creators rather than in the Maker. 

"What is your name, child?" the mother asked Liao. 

"Liao Mahariel," Liao gave her full name. She had not used her surname since becoming a Grey Warden as all Wardens cut ties to their families once they undertook the Joining. Given her parents had died when she was young, she hadn't needed to use her family name often. 

"As in Warden-Commander Liao? The hero of Ferelden?" 

"Yes." 

"Ah. Your reputation precedes you, ser. What business did you wish to talk to me about?" 

"Well, I am engaged to a human man. We were looking for a mother to ordain the wedding ceremony," Liao began though she knew it would invite the Reverend Mother to ask the same things the priestess had earlier. 

"Right. For a marriage to be performed in the Chantry, both partners must be followers of the Andrastian faith. If you are not a follower, you will have to renounce your false religion and accept Andraste as your prophet and the Maker as the one and only god. This is how things have always been done," the woman said in a dry, matter-of-fact tone. 

"Your reverence," Leliana spoke up before Liao could find a constructive way to respond, "Liao is the saviour of Ferelden and the man she is engaged to helped us defeat the Archdemon at Denerim. Surely the Maker would not forbid such a union? They are good people who have sacrificed much for the greater good." 

"It is not for us to decide the Maker's judgement," the mother answered her. "All we can follow are the guidelines in the Chant of Light. It doesn't matter what good deeds one has done so long as they have faith in the Maker and follow the Chant. The Maker's commandments are clear and just." 

"Did Andraste not love the elves who helped her cause against Tevinter?" Liao spoke up at last. "_She_ did not judge my kind. What gives you any right to do so?" 

"My rights are given to me by the Maker I serve. You are starting to test my patience but I understand you are ignorant of how the Chantry functions," the woman said dismissively. 

"_At Shartan's word, the sky grew black with arrows. At Our Lady's, ten thousand swords rang from their sheaths, a great hymn rose over Valarian Fields gladly proclaiming: Those who had been slaves were now free_," Liao recited a portion of the Canticle of Shartan to show just how ignorant she was. The canticle used to be a part of the Chant of Light that spoke of the elven leader, Shartan, who led the elves out of bondage to fight alongside Andraste but was removed after the Chantry pushed the Dalish out of their homeland. 

Leliana gasped and Wynne looked suitably uncomfortable. The verse had long been labelled as heresy and it was sure to anger anyone who served the Chantry. The Reverend Mother looked disgusted, "I will not tolerate this in my chantry! I gave you your options, if you do not wish to accept the Maker as your god then that is your decision but do not tarnish these walls with your heresy." 

"I am no heretic. I am Dalish. We are the last of the Elvhenan, and never again shall we submit," Liao said in an equally threatening tone before she turned to walk out of the room. 

Wynne and Leliana just looked at each other, unsure if Liao had wanted them to follow. 

"How can you two Andrastians follow that..pagan of a woman!" the Reverend Mother said with exasperation. 

"Liao may be Dalish but she has always done many good things," Leliana tried to assure the mother. "She might not seem like it today, but she is a warm and compassionate person." 

"Are you sure you should have dismissed her so quickly, your reverence? She is the Arlessa of this region as well as the Commander of the Grey. In political circles, she wields great power and responsibility," Wynne added. 

"The Chantry is above such petty politics. We are above the crown itself. I will not yield in this matter," the old woman said and stood up behind her desk, "I have other duties to deal with today. If there is nothing else, I wish you to leave me in peace. May the Maker guide your path." 

The two women left the chantry but found no signs of Liao outside the building. They decided maybe she would turn up at the Crown and Lion Inn later when she had calmed down. In the mean time, the pair went to the Crown and Lion's pub to have a calming drink or two. 

Liao caught sight of her reflection in the shallow, slightly murky water below her feet. The water ebbed and flowed in a consistent rhythm against the wooden dock's supports. She tapped the surface of the water with the tip of one of her boots and the resulting ripples distorted her reflected image until it disappeared altogether. It was a small distraction but the sound of the moving tide was oddly disarming. The young elf almost found it to be almost peaceful and relaxing. 

It was easy to tune out the background noise of the working dockhands going about their business. There was the occasional sea bird calling overhead to its flock but otherwise the area felt devoid of animal life. There were very few fishermen or nets surrounding the area which indicated the sea life must have been just as quiet as that of the land and air. It amazed the young Dalish that such a huge area could be so full of humans and so absent of any other living organisms. The wood and stone docks of Amaranthine were bustling with the productivity of a civilisation that relied on the sea. 

The sound of a mewing cat met Liao's ears. She glanced around the crates and barrels that dotted the dock for signs of the animal. Instead, she saw a rather large, mangy-looking rat darting out from under a rotted box full of ropes and chords. A few seconds later, a young, ginger tabby was lunging its body at its scurrying prey. The rat evaded the scrawny predator and the cat seemed to have lost interest in it almost immediately. It stopped where it sat on the wooden planks and began to thoroughly clean its paws, altogether ignoring Liao's presence. 

Liao envied the small creature. It had all the freedom of which she lacked. It could go where it pleased, hunt whatever it liked, and befriend whoever it wished without fear of upsetting were no vassals to appease, recruits to train, social pressures to navigate through, or religious types to avoid. The young cat didn't care whether the Chantry dictated peoples' lives or not. All he had to worry about was survival, something Liao had understood all too well before Duncan had whisked her away from her clan. 

The cat trotted off further down the dock where it could reach the water level for a quick drink without fear of falling into the Waking Sea. It brushed past a man on its way. The man was wearing long, colourful robes that were generally only worn by mages of the Circle of Magi. The elaborately adorned staff that he carried in his hands was further evidence of his status. It was always unusual to see mages outside of the Circle given how tightly the Chantry tried to control their movements. 

"Ah, I see this spot is already taken," the mage said when he spotted Liao in her moderately concealed hiding place behind some old shipping crates. 

"There's enough room for two," she said warmly. Unlike the Fereldans that had been fed so many lies by their Chantry, Liao did not fear or mistrust people simply because they had been born with the gift to manipulate magic. 

"You must not be from around here," the blond-haired man said with mild surprise, "But who am I to say no to such a friendly invitation." 

The mage sat down near Liao and placed his staff across his lap. The robes he were baggy enough that he could sit in a cross-legged position without much difficulty. Liao was still sitting with her legs dangling over the dock's edge, her boots constantly flirting with the water's surface. 

"What brings a mage to this area of town?" Liao asked casually. 

"What makes you think I am a mage? Maybe I am just dressed up for a costume party," the man said cheerfully. 

"I may be Dalish, but I'm not stupid," Liao retorted, "Mages aren't exactly likeable figures that people are eager to emulate at costume parties." 

"I'm _perfectly_ likeable," the mage defended himself. After a pause he asked, "A Dalish in Amaranthine? What's a _Dalish _doing in this area of town?" 

"I asked you first," Liao pointed out stubbornly. 

"There's a long story behind my being here but I don't think you'd be interested in hearing all of it," the human looked off in the distance at the large ships moving about the harbour as he spoke. 

"I've got plenty of free time to listen to stories," Liao said, "Mine probably isn't half as interesting yours. I'm just avoiding some friends who I am supposed to be shopping with at the moment." 

"Shopping sounds like such good fun," the mage said sarcastically. 

"It might have been if it didn't revolve around some silly human traditions. I don't know whether I should care or not at this point though. What's the point in shopping for a wedding dress when the Chantry won't even let you get married because you don't believe in their stupid god?" Liao's voice sounded incredibly bitter but she didn't care. She wanted to rant. 

The man looked thoroughly confused, "Well, the Chantry are pretty good at ruining everyone's fun. They're the reason I am lying low at the moment as well. Not exactly the same circumstances as your own, mind you. I'm just your typical escaped Circle Mage lusting after freedom and a decent meal." He sighed. 

"An apostate?" Liao asked. 

"Apostate is such a crude word. My name is Anders. What's yours?" the mage introduced himself by offering his hand to Liao. 

"I'm Liao, nice to meet you," Liao shook his hand gently. 

"Is it common for the Dalish to get married in a chantry?" he asked, still sounding a bit puzzled over what Liao had said earlier. 

"Not at all. My fiancé is human, so I guess it's a bit of an unusual case. We were trying to keep the ceremony balanced between human and Dalish traditions," she tried to explain. 

"How romantic, a marriage of two unlikely cultures," Anders remarked, "I'm guessing the Chantry wasn't quite as open-minded about the idea as you were?" 

"Let's just say they weren't thrilled and I told them they could shove their Maker where the sun doesn't shine," Liao exaggerated the story a bit but it felt refreshing to say what she really had wanted to say to the Reverend Mother earlier. She could still feel the hints of racism and arrogance that had accompanied the words of the priestess and the mother. 

The mage just laughed at this, "Tell me what you really think!"

His face become more sober though as he spoke again, "The templars aren't exactly forward thinkers either. This has been my seventh escape attempt from the Circle and I doubt they'll give me the chance for an eighth. Eventually you just run out of buttons to push." 

"At least you're persistent. I reckon most mages would give up after the first attempt. We Dalish believe in an oath: 'We are the Dalish: keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path. We are the last of the Elvhenan, and never again shall we submit'. You mages should come up with something similar and stick to it," the elf offered helpfully. 

"It's catchy, that's for sure," Anders agreed, "Anyway you're probably not interested in listening to some stranger's troubles." He tried to look relaxed but there was clearly more on his mind. The yellow tabby appeared again and nuzzled against the mage's hand with affection. The mage looked at the young animal with a similar look of envy that Liao had felt for it. 

"You'd be surprised at how much of my life has been spent listening to the troubles of others," Liao said, recalling all the ridiculous errands she used to get sent on during the Blight. The cat had now made itself comfortable in Anders' lap and he was scratching its ears lovingly. The grim expression on his face had turned into a small smile. "So what is your story exactly? Are you trying to flee Ferelden?" 

"No, but that's not a bad idea either," Anders admitted, "A friend of mine has helped me locate my phylactery. I intend to retrieve and destroy it so that this can be my last escape attempt. No more running from the templars for me." 

"The phylactery is in Amaranthine?" Liao remembered mages at the Circle talking about how they were often stored in Denerim in a secret location. Anders nodded in response to her question. "Do you have a plan to reach it without getting yourself killed in the process?" 

"What, you mean I'm _not _supposed to die? Now I have to rethink all of my plans!" the mage laughed again, "I was just planning to walk in through the front door without any hassles." 

"Seriously? This is why you keep getting caught," Liao pointed out. 

"It was a joke, but you're right. Having a plan could be a good idea. All I know so far is the location for the phylacteries. I hadn't gotten much further in the planning process than that," the mage admitted. 

"Sounds like you're going to need someone to help you," Liao advised. 

"Probably, but that would be risky. No one needs to put their life on the line for my benefit," Anders looked off into the distance again, not meeting Liao's gaze. 

"Your chances of success would be a lot higher though," she urged. 

"True, but who would be crazy enough to play accomplice to a known apostate?" Anders asked. He look like he had already decided that he was defeated. 

"I might be willing to help," Liao offered. Anders turned to look at her as if she had said the most outlandish thing imaginable. 

"What? You hardly know me. Why would you do that?" he asked, sounding doubtful but slightly more optimistic than earlier. 

"Because I don't support the oppression of people due to ignorance. Or maybe because the Chantry has royally pissed me off enough today. Or maybe I'm just feeling incredibly altruistic. Does it matter?" she shrugged her shoulders. At least it sounded more interesting than shopping with Wynne and Leliana and she had the chance to help someone out who deserved to be as free as anyone else in Fereldan. 

"It matters a great deal, Liao. I'm glad to have you met you today," he had wanted to shake her hand again but the sleeping cat in his lap wouldn't allow him to move his arm. 

"I reckon we should wait until nightfall to pull this off. Where should we meet up?" Liao asked. The mage gave her directions to a warehouse not too far away from the docks and suggested they meet around midnight to avoid any potential witnesses. 

It was almost mid-afternoon already and Liao felt it was time that she meet up with her friends again who were probably worried and beginning to look for her. She had no intentions of telling either of them about Anders or her plans for later that evening. She wasn't entirely sure what motivated her to offer to help him but she knew somehow that it was the right thing to do. There was certainly a lure of danger and excitement that Liao always found hard to resist and she had no qualms about hurting the Chantry. 

Liao ran into Wynne and Leliana near a shop that sold silks and other rare fabrics. Apparently they hadn't started to look for their friend at all and Leliana had decided they should still have a dress of some kind made for Liao. The Dalish tried to explain that she had no need for one but the Orlesian girl could not be dissuaded. Liao suspected that Leliana just liked having an excuse to shop for something that she wanted for herself. Wynne was more interested in the novelty items that could be bought from trinket shops similar to the Wonders of Thedas in Denerim's market.

The only shops that interested Liao were ones that had spices, recipes, and food items from across the Waking Sea. Most of these shops had a fragrant smell surrounding them as well as sample platters of food to try out. The elven commander also took an interest in the various leather-works that could be bought around the marketplace but she had no immediate need to upgrade her current equipment. Most of the leather was being fashioned into shoes or satchels instead of cuirasses or bracers anyway. She was slightly disappointed by the lack of bowyers showing off their latest hunting implements since she had been thinking about buying a compact recurve bow.

Around dinner time, just after sunset, the three women made their way back to the Crown and Lion Inn for an evening meal. With a few choice words, Liao was able to convince her friends into consuming a hefty amount of alcohol. She hoped that they would be too busy chattering away so that she could slip out of the pub unnoticed for the rest of the night.

It didn't take long before Leliana was expressing her displeasure with the local band of minstrels. She took matters into her own, personal hands and began to play a merry tune on one of their larger lute instruments. The red-haired human started to tell a ludicrous story about dancing dwarves deep in the Deep Roads. As she continued to weave the tall-tale, she began to incorporate a known drinking song into the lyrics and soon enough the entire room was singing along with her. Wynne joined in with the merriment and used a spell to change the colours of the lights in the room every time a new verse was added to the epic song.

Liao took the chance to duck out of the room and back out onto the cobblestone streets of the city. The wind was howling fiercely but the night time sky was clear. It was still too early to rendezvous with Anders. She decided to take a walk around the large city's sprawling streets instead to familiarise herself more with the layout of the city. She also took note of the positions of the city guards and tried to approximate when they changed shifts. Hopefully nothing would go wrong later that would require her to rely on such information but it didn't hurt to be overly prepared.

Most of the shops had closed up when the sun had gone down a few hours prior. There were numerous lit torches and lanterns along the larger, more trafficked streets. In sharp contrast to the bigger laneways, the alleys and back streets were much shrouded in darkness and empty of any pedestrians. Patrols of guards only walked up and down the one main street that went through the city gates at regular intervals. From within the walled city, it was hard to make out the refugee camps but every now and then Liao could see one of their campfires glowing in the distance.

Eventually, she calculated that it must be approaching the middle of the night. The streets were empty and a majority of the city watch had stopped their patrols for the remainder of the night. Even the noise and activity that came from the direction of the docks had quieted down substantially. The only sounds that could be heard in the seaside town at that hour were those of crackling flames dancing on torches and the chilling wind that was threatening to blow them out. Even the Waking Sea itself seemed silent and distant that night.

The elven rogue made her way to the back of an abandoned building that resided beside the warehouse that Anders wanted to infiltrate. It did not unsettle her that Anders hadn't arrived yet since he had said it would be hard for him to move around easily with the templars on alert. Liao had no idea how a man in bright robes and carrying a large staff was supposed to hide himself, his appearance was painfully hard to ignore. There must be some sort of magic that he used to disguise himself or discourage people from noticing him. She spent the long minutes waiting for him trying to figure out how an apostate would survive in a crowded city full of mage-haters.

Liao heard his approached before she saw his figure emerge around the shadowy corner. He looked tired and uneasy. The young mage was clenching his staff with what looked like apprehension or nervousness. She hoped he would be a decent man to have in a fight if it came down to one. It wouldn't do the Grey Wardens any good if their leader was caught assisting a criminal in the dead of night. The elven commander briefly wondered if she should have told Anders that she was a Warden but didn't see any benefit in revealing such information. 

"Sorry I'm late," Anders said in a hushed voice. "I was tailing the templars back to the chantry. Looks like all of them are there at the moment so we should be able to do this without any surprises." 

"How many are there?" Liao asked. She was surprised by how bold the mage was. If they had noticed him following him, they probably would have attacked first and asked questions later. _He must be confidant in his abilities if he was prepared to take on multiple templars on his own,_ she thought to herself. 

"One knight-captain and four knights. The knights aren't that experienced yet but the captain is formidable. She would probably take much delight in killing me," Anders seemed to be quite familiar with this particular group of templars. 

"Let's hope we can do this without disturbing them," Liao said. She revealed the plan that she had thought up earlier that evening, "I've noticed that one of the windows to the warehouse is fairly accessible. It should also be quite easy to unlock. I could sneak in there, get the phylactery, and get out without much fuss. Then you can do whatever you want with it." 

"You want to do all the work? Are you good at this sort of thing?" Anders looked sceptical. 

"It's the easiest way to do it. If you want to steal something, better let a rogue do it. Magic could attract too much attention," said the elven archer. 

"True enough," Anders agreed. He looked over at the high window that Liao had indicated. At least he could make himself somewhat useful and help her reach it. 

"Do you know exactly what to look for?" he asked her. 

"I assume it's just a phial with some blood in it," Liao responded. 

"Right. They might not be labelled but I'm sure I could pick out my own phylactery if you bring them all to me," Anders assured her. As an aside, "If worse comes to worse, we can just destroy all of them. I doubt any mages will be upset about that." 

"Ok. Are you ready? All you have to do is give me a boost to the window and keep a lookout for any wandering guards," Liao said as she adjusted her armour and unslung her bow. She dropped the longbow along with her quiver near Anders' feet, "Too bulky, I'm leaving this with you. Don't let anything happen to it." The window wasn't big enough for her to get through with her usual equipment. Her bow wouldn't do her much good in a tight, indoor fight where she would be on her own anyway. 

They decided the best way to reach the window was for Liao to sit on the mage's shoulders. The young man wasn't very strong in his upper body so he couldn't handle holding her weight from a crouched position. Instead, they found some crates behind the warehouse and stacked them so that Liao could stand on them. This allowed her to position herself without relying on Anders supporting her from a kneeling to upright position. He was still a bit shaky and she wobbled a bit but she put her arms out for balance. 

"You know, most men fantasise about being mounted by a pretty lady. I can't figure out what all the fuss is about, Maker you're heavy!" Anders attempted to joke while he struggled to walk towards the window's ledge with an armour-clad, elven rogue on his shoulders. She only dug her boots into his arms in response for fear that he might drop her if she made him laugh. 

Luckily they had stacked the crates relatively close to the wall that contained the window of interest. The rogue fumbled through her belt for an appropriate lockpick to use on the window's mechanism. She used her leg muscles to steady herself. 

"Try not to kick my head off," Anders reminded her. 

She found the window's locking mechanism and began to pick and pry at it with the small tools. There wasn't any light inside the room to guide her so she had to use her reflexes and instincts. She also hoped that the window didn't open into a position that would make her vulnerable. The young elf had to remind herself that the templars weren't going to show up any time soon but it was still a good idea to try and avoid any unnecessary exposure when she didn't have a ranged weapon to back her up. It only took one attempt on the lock to pry it open and once it clicked open she pushed against the pane of the glass with both of her hands. 

The window tilted inwards and revealed boxes and bookcases inside. The tricky bit would be getting enough purchase on the small ledge. Liao stretched out and gripped the window's interior ledge and began to pull herself forward. Anders quickly ducked out of the way to free her legs and to avoid being kicked. When she was halfway through the window's frame, she stopped for a moment to decide the best way to get onto the floor in the room without landing face-first. 

She twisted her body around so that she was no longer crawling on her belly. There was nothing close to the window to grab onto so instead she braced her hands against the stone wall on either side of the window. She pushed with all the strength in her arms to pull her lower torso and legs through the window. Liao bent her legs as soon as they were under her and stood in a crouched position briefly on the little ledge before jumping backwards. 

There was no way to see what she might land on so she tried to pull her limbs in close to her body to reduce any damage during the short drop. She could hear and feel the crunching noise of a box full of papers and books collapsing beneath her weight. She had found solid ground with her right foot but her left was harder to place and she stumbled backwards into the tough, oaken wood of a bookcase's backside. The noise sounded incredibly loud to her but she tried to ignore her moment of clumsiness and focus on finding clearance on the cluttered floor for her other foot. The bookcase hadn't budged when she fell into it and she could still feel the impact against it in her lower back. 

"Are you alright?" Anders whispered loud enough for her to hear from outside. He sounded startled by the brief amount of noise Liao had just caused. 

"Fine," she grumbled. "This lovely bookcase broke my fall. And possibly my back." She instinctively rubbed the portion of her back that hid hit the object and felt the tenderness of a bruise forming. 

"I thought you were supposed to be good at this sort of thing," Anders said in response. 

Liao didn't respond, instead she tried to survey the room for some sort of torch or candle. The window had opened up to an alcove full of junk, probably furniture and shelves full of books judging by their shapes. The rogue stepped quietly over the books and crates that littered the area where she had fallen. 

In the darkness she couldn't tell if the warehouse was broken up into several rooms or not. She was cautious of traps even if the templars weren't presently guarding the phylacteries. It was safer to assume that they may have left some sort of surprises for any potential burglars. Liao didn't quite feel comfortable about illuminating the room yet since to light a torch would give away her position. 

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness at last and she could somewhat make out the layout of the room she was in. There were bookshelves, boxes, and desks lining the walls. It seemed to be a building used to store documents and records. phials of mage blood should stand out relatively well, provided they weren't stashed away in a box somewhere. 

The elf continued scanning the room for any signs of traps. The warehouse was an odd choice for the templars to hide something so important and she suspected there was more to it than she first thought. Perhaps they weren't counting on anyone founding out about the location or they were just using it as temporary storage. She looked out for any loose rope or other strange objects that could be used to trigger traps. 

There was a backroom with shelves full of scrolls and other items that she couldn't see. This looks more promising she thought to herself. The small amount of light that had came through the window didn't reach the more interior room. She was feeling more confidant about the lack of guards and traps now. Liao decided she was going to need a little help after all and she walked back to the window. 

"I need some light in here. Can you meet me at the front door?" she whispered, hoping Anders could hear her. 

"Yeah, no guards have walked by here yet," Anders reported. 

She met him at the thick wooden door at the front of the building and unlocked it. He knocked softly when he was ready and she quickly opened the door to allow him in before closing it after him. Neither of them could see the other very well. Anders rectified this difficulty by casting a small spell that produced a soft, glowing blue light atop his staff. 

"Strange place to hide something so valuable," Anders remarked once he could see the assortment of books and other items being stored in the warehouse. 

"I agree. You're sure about the information your friend gave you?" Liao asked him. 

"Definitely. I've seen the templars come and go from this building over the last few days. They usually came one at a time, probably trying not to draw attention to themselves," Anders assured the elf. 

"I want to take a closer look at the backroom, come on," she took the lead. Anders followed after her with his illuminated staff. 

The backroom was indeed full of scrolls and artefacts. With the extra light, the pair could see all sorts of glassware as well. The glassware was the type used in alchemy and potion-making. 

"Look at that, lyrium sand," Anders pointed to a bowl full of a pink-coloured powder. 

"Isn't that stuff rare?" Liao asked, having remembered from visiting the dwarves that lyrium was a precious commodity. She knew that lyrium potions were used by mages and templars as a catalyst to power complicated spells. 

"Yeah and there's all the right equipment here to make lyrium potions," Anders noticed, "But I wonder why it's hidden away like this? Everyone already knows that the Chantry controls its templars with lyrium." 

"We can speculate about it after we find those phials," Liao said as she searched the numerous shelves for the objects. 

"Here," Anders said excitedly. He had been looking on the lower shelves and found several racks full of different coloured phials. He reached out and pulled one of the racks full of dark red phials off the shelf. "This is it. It's one of these." 

"Which one?" Liao asked, wondering how he could tell them apart. There were no noticeable labels to distinguish the translucent glass objects. 

He set the phials down on top of one of the shelving units so he could see them all properly. He produced a small candle from the pack on his belt and set it alight with a small spark of flames that had come to life out of thin air. The candle was set down next to the phials and it burned with a normal, orange flame. 

The mage took one of the phials and held it over the burning flame for a few seconds but nothing happened. He put the phial back and tried another one with the same result. He did this a few more times until one phial produced a green flame. 

"Is that one yours?" Liao asked, assuming the spell he had cast would help him pick out his phylactery from the rest. 

"Yes," the mage held up the phial above his head and looked at it with astonishment, "This small bit of glass has held me captive since I was fourteen." 

Liao could feel acute anger for the way the Chantry treated mages. Here before her was an ordinary man who could do great things. Unlike most mages, he had lived and experienced a normal life outside the Circle for many years only to have it stripped away from him. She couldn't rationalise why he should be punished for something the Tevinter magisters had done over a thousand years ago. The look of relief and satisfaction on his face lifted her spirit immensely. 

_This is the right thing to do_, she reminded herself. _If I hadn't been chosen to be a Warden, I would dedicate my life to fighting for freedom of his and my people from the Chantry. The mages deserve so much more, if only the rest of the Dalish knew their hardship. They would fight by their side._

"What should we do now?" she asked aloud. 

"I don't know. In all my dreams about this moment, I either woke up or got caught by the templars again," Anders said, sounding as if he were still in a state of disbelief. 

"First thing we should do is leave this building," Liao offered helpfully. 

"Yeah, I suppose we should. I ought to leave the city tonight while I have the opportunity. Guess I will have to settle down somewhere and live out the rest of my life in peace," he agreed to her suggestion. 

The two left the unremarkable warehouse behind and walked to the end of the small street that had led to it in silence. Anders kept the phylactery in his free hand. Apparently he hadn't quite felt ready to smash the glass to pieces yet. Liao felt more comfortable now that she wore her familiar bow and quiver on her back again. 

"Liao," Anders paused for a moment to address her, "No amount of thanks can express my gratitude right now. I owe you my life for what you have done." 

"I didn't really do that much," she felt humbled by his words. "But you're welcome. You deserve liberation, all of your kind do. I hope you'll go on to accomplish great things some day." 

"We'll see about that," he bowed his head as a sign of respect. "For now, I must go. Alone. Thanks again." He continued down an adjacent street after she returned the bow. 

When he had rounded a corner, Liao followed after him. The least she could do was see him off safely past the city's gates. She kept to the shadows and didn't follow too closely, Had he wanted her company he would have asked for it and she didn't want to disrespect his wishes.

After she followed him down a few streets, her heart sank as she could hear the familiar clattering of people walking in armour nearby. She ducked behind a wall and hoped Anders had heard them as well. He hadn't, of course, given his human hearing wasn't as keen as her own. She was too far away to warn him.

"Halt!" a woman's voice cried out and Anders stopped suddenly in his tracks, not realising that the templars were already so close.

Liao could see the scene from her position but she hadn't known the best way to approach without making things worse. She unslung her bow just in case she would need it and waited to see what would transpire.

Four more templars, the knights, approached from the same side street as the first who had called out, "Relax boys, it's just Anders. Again."

"You're crushing my little ego," Anders said jovially, though his facial features didn't seem nearly as cheerful as his words.

"Out for a stroll are we?" the knight-captain taunted him.

"Oh yes, it's a beautiful evening! Care to join me?" he was stalling, Liao could tell. The young elf realised she could do something to help the mage after all and she walked towards the small group.

"Who's this, your girlfriend?" the templar said as she saw Liao.

"Not exactly," Anders said as he followed the templar's gaze. He looked both horrified and relieved to see the rogue again.

"What's going on here?" Liao asked the knight-captain.

"Nothing important, citizen. Just arresting this apostate and taking him back where he belongs," the templar said dismissively.

"I haven't committed any crimes," Anders pointed out. Unfortunately, that was the moment the templar knight-captain chose to look at his hand, the one clutching onto the phylactery. There was just enough torchlight to reflect off the glass surface.

"Ah, Namaya was right then. You fell for the bait," the templar said, crossing her arms and looking intimidating in her plate armour. "It seems you _have_ committed a crime this time, Anders. I was just going to take you back to the Circle, but alas, I cannot forgive this offense."

Liao looked at Anders who seemed as pale as a ghost now. Namaya must have been the friend that had told him about the phylacteries. _Some friend, she betrayed him,_ Liao thought to herself.

"I cannot allow that," Liao spoke up.

"Excuse me?" said the snotty templar.

"I'm Warden-Commander Liao, Arlessa of Amaranthine," the elf introduced herself, pulling the rank card out of her bag of tricks, "And I happen to need a good mage in my ranks."

Anders looked absolutely dumbfounded by the revelation. She wasn't going to give him a choice and part of her felt guilty for that. Not everyone was eager to become a Grey Warden but at least she could give him a better, more secure future.

"And you want _this _one?" the captain looked offended. "This one is a criminal! He's stolen from the Chantry and killed countless innocents."

"Countless only because the number is _zero_," Anders said off-handily.

The templar ignored his remark. "Ser, I must protest. I've been hunting this man for the last week and now I've caught him red-handed. Surely the Wardens believe in justice."

"Caught him red-handed? Sounds like you were setting him up to me," Liao said pointedly. "Anyway, the matter isn't up for debate. I'm conscripting this mage into the ranks of the Grey Wardens as of now."

"What?" both the templar and Anders exclaimed.

"Thanks for asking me first," Anders added.

"You can't just do that!" the templar looked furious.

"I can and I have," Liao crossed her arms in a similar fashion as the other woman to emphasise her position.

The templar knew it was an argument she couldn't win. The Rite of Conscription was an infamous tool of the Wardens. If the Blight had occurred so recently, most people would have forgotten about the existence of the Grey Wardens and their rites but Liao's victory over the Archdemon was too recent. The knight-captain would look foolish if she attempted to feign ignorance.

"Alright," the templar sighed. "But he still possesses Chantry property and I want it back first."

Anders looked over at Liao and she nodded. He noticed that her bow was already in her hand. If she was really the infamous hero of Ferelden, then she must know a great deal about how to survive a fight. Five templars to a rogue and a mage weren't great odds if it came down to it but he was committed if it had to happen.

"Fair enough," Anders extended his hand towards the templar knight-captain but conveniently let go of the object just as she reached for it. It created a loud shattering noise and the blood stained the street where it fell. The templar immediately reached for her sword and shield on her back and yelled a battle cry.

Liao had retreated further up the hill during the exchange so that she had a good vantage point. Before Anders could cast anything, the templar had thrown her arms out and unleashed an anti-magic missile from the sky that knocked the mage backwards off his feet. Liao had been both too far away and immune to the smite attack. The captain was closing the gap towards Anders quickly with her blade but Liao managed to lodge an arrow into the side of her knee, just between the plates of armour. It had been a lucky shot since the templars wore cloth skirts over their chainmail and plate lower armour that hid the weak spots. The captain buckled over as she lost momentum and felt the rushing pain of the wound.

The four knights rushed in to join their commanding officer but Anders had had enough time to recover and he summoned the powers of winter as they approached. By the time they reached him, he had unleashed a cone of cold that froze them in place for a few seconds. The magic had missed the captain, however and she was rushing madly at Liao now.

Liao fired off two arrows at once that met two of the templar ice sculptures. They shattered immediately and as the other two thawed they look bewildered and genuinely frightened. Anders used the opportunity to paralyse them in place with some other spell. He then turned to cast a regenerative spell on Liao who had just dodged the knight-captain's first attack. Liao dropped her bow and unsheathed her daggers. She caught the captain's second attack between the two blades and forced her backwards with a kick to her midsection. Liao felt power surging through her veins as Anders' spell took its effect.

Anders returned his attention to the two paralysed templars. He had wanted to use fire magic but didn't want to risk setting any surrounding buildings alight. Instead, he resorted to cold magic again and began to summon a blizzard of swirling ice and snow. He had just enough time to cast it before the remaining knights were mobile again but they couldn't see him well enough through the storm. He could still hear Liao fighting one-on-one with the captain behind him.

It occurred to Liao that she had never fought a templar on her own before. There had been the occasional possessed templar back in the Circle of Magi that she had been forced to kill with her companions. She certainly had never had a chance to spar with Alistair before and reckoned he might not have been as tough as a fully-trained templar anyway. The captain used savage attacks and Liao was constantly forced to move backwards out of the way. She couldn't afford for the templar to land any hits with her large shield since she had no proper way to defend against it.

Anders threw a ball of ice at the templar captain and she stopped attacking for a brief moment. Liao used the opportunity to dive at the woman's neck, the only visible weak spot she could find with the furious blizzard half-blinding her vision. She leapt with enough strength to knock the templar backwards. Liao was in too close for the templar to react with her bulkier weapons once she had snapped out of Anders' spell. With a great effort, Liao stabbed downwards with both of her daggers and eruption of blood splashed out onto the dead templar's armour and began to cover the street.

At the same moment, Anders had refrozen the other two templars. They looked on in horror from within their icy prisons. Liao, still straddling the knight-captain, threw a dagger each at the sculptures and the horrified expressions of the knights shattered into millions of tiny pieces along the road.

The battle had been quick but messy. Liao had blood all over her hands and armour. The tiny pieces of the templar corpses littered the ground and looked as if a bunch of drunken men had puked all over the place. The knight-captain's body, however, was still mostly intact and would be easily identifiable.

Anders bent down to pick up the arrows and daggers that had killed the knights and offered them back to their owner, "I've never seen anyone fight like that before."

"I've had tougher challenges," Liao boasted as she got back up to her feet and accepted the weapons.

"This isn't going to look good for the Wardens," Anders pointed out the obvious.

"We should hide this body. Maybe it will buy us some time. And I need to clean up before this blood stains my armour," she said.

The two of them managed to carry the captain's body the entire distance back to the docks. The fight hadn't lasted long enough to alert the local guards and hopefully they wouldn't see the evidence of it until well into the morning. They tossed the body off an old, out-of-the way pier. Afterwards, Liao jumped into the water nearby and let the salt soak her gritty armour. It didn't feel clean, but it would at least keep people from asking her uncomfortable questions later.

Liao and Anders walked back towards the Crown and Lion Inn in the residential area of town. The Warden-Commander wasn't sure how she'd explain Anders to her friends in the morning but she had told him to keep the night's events to himself. She'd think up something after she had at least an hour's sleep. Luckily the room the three had rented for the night contained four beds and Anders was eager to have a rest after his first adventure with Liao.

Around sunrise, Liao woke up and urged her companions to get ready to go back to Vigil's Keep. Wynne and Leliana were obviously hungover from the night before so they didn't put up much resistance. When they asked about Anders, she explained she had recruited him into the Wardens and would tell them more later while they travelled to the keep. This appeased their curiosity for a short while and Anders kept mostly quiet the whole way.


	5. Chapter 5 Reunion

Now Liao had three recruits awaiting their Joining rituals. The ritual required a simple spell to be performed at specific time of day in addition to the materials that she had already gathered in abundance. However, the Warden-Commander was sceptical of the process and knew very little about magic. Riordan, the Orlesian Grey Warden who had died while fighting the Archdemon, had left notes for the other two Wardens on how to prepare the Joining concoction that would be needed to transform new recruits into proper Grey Wardens. Liao wasn't prepared to put her friends at risk quite yet and would have to wait for Alistair to return to the keep to ensure the relative safety of the ritual.

The next few days at the keep were spent dealing with minor local issues and entertaining the Banns that owned land within the arling. It was mostly boring, political stuff but at least it kept Liao's mind off of the potential mess she may have caused with the local chantry while trying to recruit Anders. Anders himself was adjusting to life at the keep quite well. He got along with everyone, particularly with his fellow recruits Zevran and Nathaniel.

Liao had become relatively more comfortable with Nathaniel and had decided to allow him to move freely about the keep so long as he stayed out of trouble. _If he is going to become a Grey Warden then he ought to be treated as one_, she rationalised. He was beginning to warm up to the idea of being a recruit and seemed to be sincerely apologetic for his previous behaviour. Everyone treated him more or less like an equal. Wynne and Leliana were still suspicious of him for his attempt to take Liao's life only a few nights prior but they did not argue with her decision to grant his freedom. Shale didn't seem to notice Nathaniel at all unless he had more information on hidden books throughout the keep, of which he knew a few.

It was refreshing to see Zevran more involved with everyone in general instead of sulking about the shadows as he had done when they had first arrived at Vigil's Keep. Liao knew that eventually the two of them would have to address the white elephant that existed between them but she was in no hurry to figure out the best way to go about it. He didn't seem to be in a hurry either and treated her with the same cheerfulness and flirty attitude that he gave everyone else. He was becoming more positive in general with the addition of the other recruits and was eager to get to know their strengths, weaknesses, and tolerance level for his crude jokes. The elven assassin was especially overjoyed with the state of the things once Liao's clan arrived at the keep.

The clan arrived around midday on a cloudy, breezy day. Liao had sent a message to them about a week ago before she had left Denerim. The note was brief since it was written in Elvish and explained that she had good news to share with the clan and needed them to make haste to the north, towards Vigil's Keep, at their earliest convenience. She had wanted to explain more details but her ability to write in her native language was greatly limited and she didn't think a written note was the right format to share everything in.

She hadn't expected them to receive and respond to the message so quickly, however, but there they were. They had brought all of their aravels (covered wagons), hallas (deer-like creatures), and equipment with them as they had always done while travelling the forests of Ferelden. Liao had been overjoyed to see the large sails of the landships as they approached Vigil's Keep from the southern horizon.

Because of their early appearance, the guards of the keep were unprepared for the spectacle. The Warden-Commander had been approached by a nervous Seneschal Varel and Captain Garevel when they had spotted the first aravel. She quickly assured the humans that there was no threat or danger because the symbol on the aravel sails was that of her own clan. She understood why they had been nervous though. There had been numerous rumours from merchants and other travellers on the local roads that bandits and a band of Dalish elves were attacking their caravans on a frequent basis. Liao had not had enough free time to investigate the claims but she intended to do so later once all of the festivities of the upcoming week were over.

Liao's clan had begun the laborious process of setting up their camp at a safe distance. They were close enough to the keep to be seen but far enough away to not make the humans feel uncomfortable. While the tents and fires were being set up, two members of the clan had been sent to Vigil Keep's gates to greet the commander in charge. The Keeper, Marethari, and Liao's surrogate mother, Ashalle, were the first of the Dalish to approach the Vigil. Liao waited expectantly at the gates for them to come up the hill. She had to keep herself from crying out with the emotions that were surging through her as she saw their familiar faces. It had been over a year a since she had seen anyone from her clan.

"Andaran atish'an aneth ara," she greeted the two elderly elves with the most formal of Elvish greetings and welcomed them to her home.

"Aneth ara, da'len (We greet you, child)," Keeper Marethari responded in kind and boasted a smile on her stern face at hearing such a polite greeting from someone so young.

"Da'len! It is so good to see you," Ashalle exclaimed as she broke the formal exchange by engulfing Liao in a huge hug. Liao could smell the familiar scent of Brecilian wild flowers in Ashalle's greying hair. The scent reminded her of home, it was the only memory she had of her mother before she had disappeared so long ago. Suddenly the young elven commander could feel tears forming in her eyes and she hugged Ashalle back tightly to keep the tears from falling down her face.

"I've missed you both immensely," Liao felt the raw emotion creeping into her voice and she tried to choke it back. She didn't want to look like a fledgling in front of her elders.

"And we've missed you, hero of Ferelden," Keeper Marethari said warmly, to answer Liao's inevitable question she said, "News from Hahren Zathrian's clan reached us not too long ago. It seems you've been busy playing soldier. We are so proud of what you've accomplished."

Liao blushed from the compliment. Keeper Marethari rarely gave anyone a kind word unless it was truly deserved. "There is so much to tell you! Please come inside the keep and make yourselves comfortable." She lead the two women to the keep proper and watched as their faces lit up. The keep was probably the largest assortment of buildings her clan would have seen in one location without being driven off by angry humans. The guards followed the three women with their eyes but did not raise any weapons. Seneschal Varel bowed respectively as they entered the the main building and followed after them once Liao requested his presence.

"This is Seneschal Varel," she introduced him as the four walked through the main foyer towards the audience chamber.

"What's a seneschal?" Ashalle asked.

"He's like.. the keep's Keeper. He makes sure everything runs smoothly around the keep," she explained. Varel only answered with a soft chuckle at the overly-simplified explanation.

"Aren't you the one in command here?" Keeper Marethari asked, sounding slightly confused by the human system of hierarchy.

"I am," Liao tried to think of the best way to explain. "I lead the Wardens, primarily. But I am also the Arlessa of Amaranthine so I rule over the vassals of this land. I usually let Varel handle the politics though, my expertise is best suited for battle."

"So many fancy titles to keep track of," the Keeper remarked. "You've grown up so fast, da'len."

"This place is so grand! These stones must be hundreds of years old," Ashalle remarked as she looked upwards towards the high ceiling.

"The Vigil has been here since the days of the Avvar tribes," Varel spoke up. "She has seen many occupants and weathered many conflicts."

"I'd be interested in seeing it properly while we are visiting," the Keeper responded. "But first I'd like to know why we were so urgently requested to be here. We don't normally travel this far north this early in the autumn season."

"There's two major reasons," Liao started. "The first is that I have some really important news for all the Dalish clans in Ferelden and I need you to spread it at the next meeting of the clans. After our victory against the Blight, Queen Anora accepted my request that the Dalish be given permanent land to settle on. She has set aside the Hinterlands, just north of Korcari Wilds and including the old fortress of Ostagar, as belonging to our people now."

The Keeper's face brightened with excitement, "That _is_ incredible news. There are already clans that live in that area, they will be thrilled to hear this. Unfortunately, we are expecting it to be a really cold autumn and we will have to wait several months to begin constructing permanent settlements. But at least we will have the right to do as we please now. Thank you so much da'len. With every deed of yours, we become more proud and grateful. The Creators must truly smile upon you."

"My only regret is that I cannot join you in building those settlements," Liao was excited for her clan's good fortune but she knew where her responsibilities laid, "I'll continue to do whatever I can for you within my current position, however. It's the least I can do."

"You're not an exile, Liao, you will always be a member of our clan," the Keeper reminded her.

"I know that, it's just.." she sighed and looked down at her empty hands, "It's just not _fair_ that I had to become a Warden. I know, it saved my life. But at what cost? I did not wish to spend my life leading armies and training men."

"We do not get the luxury of choosing our fates," Ashalle placed a hand on Liao's shoulder to calm her. "All we can do is deal with what the Creators have provided. You have done well, da'len. We feared you would die that day when the Grey Warden saved you. We feared you would die on your mission after that day. But you did not. You are still here. We do not take your life for granted and neither should you. Remember this."

"Ma serannas, mamae (Thank you, mother)," Liao whispered. She could see that Varel was looking slightly uncomfortable but she did not wish him to leave. He was a reminder of her duty and she wasn't ready to have a personal exchange with her clan-mates quite yet.

"So what was the second reason for calling us?" Ashalle asked in an attempt to shift the conversation to something less emotional.

"I need Keeper Marethari to perform a bonding ceremony," Liao said cautiously, she wasn't entirely sure how they'd react.

"For you, da'len? Did you ever find Tamlen?" the Keeper asked hopefully.

Liao realised the conversation was going to get a lot more complicated than she had wanted it to. She looked over at Seneschal Varel again and dismissed him. He looked relieved to leave the room. "I did find Tamlen but the news is not good. He was corrupted by the darkspawn taint and turned into a ghoulish creature that was something between Dalish and darkspawn. He was in terrible agony and going mad. He begged me to kill him. I didn't want to do it but he attacked my companions with other ghouls and I was forced to.." she trailed off.

She had put the memory of the encounter with Tamlen out of her mind for so long. Her heart swelled with grief over what she had done that day and she could not stop the tears from coming. Ashalle wrapped an arm around Liao and the younger elf let herself be comforted. She sobbed quietly into Ashalle's shoulder until she could compose herself again.

The Keeper felt foolish for having assumed Liao wanted to bond with her former childhood friend. It was maybe too much to hope for that Tamlen had survived. Keeper Marethari didn't know how to respond to the news. The clan had wondered about Tamlen's fate for months and they would want to know what had happened to him. At last she simply said, "I'm sorry, da'len. He walks now with Falon'Din across the Veil."

"He does. I buried him that day. There is a single ash tree growing amongst a forest of yew in the shadow of the Frostback Mountains now," Liao said. The three women bowed their heads for a moment while they reflected on Tamlen's passing. Almost to herself, she continued, "His last words were that he loved me. I didn't have the chance to say the same. But a month or so after his passing I met his spirit in the mountains. It was a strange place, rumoured to be the final resting place of Andraste, and there were many spirits there. His spirit, or whatever it was, forgave me for killing him and released me from my mourning. I knew then that he had crossed over to the Beyond with Falon'Din." Somehow she felt relief at having retold the fate of Tamlen to her clan-mates who had watched over and guided him from fledgling to adulthood. They were his clan-mates just as much as they were her own.

After a few long pauses, Liao spoke up again, "To answer your question, Keeper, the bonding ceremony is for me. Since Tamlen's death, many things have happened in my life and I have developed a strong bond with another Grey Warden. He has asked to marry me and I accepted. We were going to do two ceremonies but the Chantry rejected my request. Now I am putting the request before you."

"He is not Dalish then," the Keeper pointed out the obvious. "Is he even elven?"

"No, he is a human," Liao said. For a moment, she feared the the Keeper would scold her for her decision.

"Very well, if this is what you wish, da'len. We will have to talk more about this later. The ceremony has never been done for a human and we will have to adapt it to the circumstances. For now, I think we should retire back to camp and make sure everything is set up properly for our stay. You are welcome to visit us at any time to talk further," the Keeper assured the Warden-Commander. Her and Ashalle said their farewells and left the strange building behind to return to their tents and aravels.

Later that day, between afternoon and evening, Liao found herself staring out of one of the keep's largest windows. It had been a rainy afternoon but the ominous grey clouds were beginning to break up slightly and small patches of blue sky could be seen overhead. Not much of the day's remaining sunlight was making its way through so the darkness made it seemed much later in the day than it actually was. There were shallow puddles sitting along the dirt road that led up the hill to the keep's gates. The air smelled crisp and cool but overall the temperature still felt comfortably warm.

The Warden-Commander could see the smoke billowing from the campfires where the Dalish had established their camp. She knew they would be cooking the evening's meal at that time of day. They were probably preparing a venison or rabbit soup full of mixed wild vegetables and chock full of salt as seasoning. If they had been in the Amaranthine region long enough they would be smoking or frying freshly caught fish such as bass or salmon. Food was always scarce for the nomadic elves but they knew how to take full advantage of the flavours available to them. Dessert would inevitably consist of mixed berries soaking atop a crumbly, bread-like biscuit that was already drowning in the sweet milk that the hallas provided. Liao's stomach made gurgling noises as she thought about all the delicious food. Unfortunately, she had already committed to eating a human-prepared dinner with the keep's officers for the evening.

She had wanted to abandon all her duties and spend every waking moment with her clan. However, she knew that this was not possible and instead she would have to prioritise her time at the keep over the time spent outside of it. She had already promised Zevran and the others that they could go to the campsite with her after dinner. That was the customary time for the clan storyteller to share stories with the clan. It would allow her friends to experience a piece of Dalish culture in a relaxed environment. Liao also thought it could give her an opportunity to share her own story with a large audience. It would certainly cut down on how many times she would have to retell the tale of her long journey from becoming a Grey Warden to conquering the Fifth Blight.

After dinner with the officers, one of the cooks had given Liao a basket full of breads and cheeses to give to the visiting elves. In exchange she had wanted to learn some of their recipes and the Warden-Commander agreed to the request. Everyone at the keep was being overly friendly about their current guests. Liao couldn't decide if they were just trying to earn good favour with their Arlessa or if they were genuinely interested in cultural exchanges all of a sudden. Either way, she was thankful for their open-mindedness since it gave her one less thing to worry about.

Liao took the gift of food and her companions to meet Storyteller Paviel at his campsite in the middle of the assortment of tents. Zevran, Leliana, Wynne, Anders, and Nathaniel were all keen to learn a little bit about how Liao had grown up and how the Dalish lived their lives away from the convenience of cities and villages. The Warden-Commander had also invited Seneschal Varel, Captain Garevel, and Mistress Woolsie but they had all politely declined. They certainly didn't want to overcrowd the Dalish on their first night in the area. This was probably their excuse for avoiding being outside after sunset as well.

Paviel was surprised to see so many guests with Liao when she arrived but he welcomed their enthusiasm. The gift basket was given to Merrill, the Keeper's apprentice, as they entered the camp and she thanked Liao profusely before disappearing to find some paper and ink to write the recipes on. Unlike Liao, Merrill knew how to read and write fluently in the human's common language. It was probably one of many useful skills that a future Keeper needed to know.

"I'd ask you all to take a seat but the ground is still quite wet. Hang on a moment," Paviel said after they had all exchanged greetings, "Da'len, please get some blankets for our guests and some extra firewood." He was speaking to a male child that was roughly half of Liao's age. She had thought he was speaking to her for a moment. All the elders kept calling her da'len even though she was an adult but she assumed they meant it as an affectionate honorific.

The child came back with one of its friends and together they laid out several blankets around the large bonfire. Wood was added and the fire began to grow in intensity. As the humans took their places around the fire, more and more curious Dalish elves began to join them. Normally storytelling was done for the benefit of the fledglings but on that evening it attracted what seemed like the entire clan.

"This is quite the audience," Paviel was impressed with the attention he was garnering. He turned to Liao and asked, "Da'len, do you have a request for tonight's story? Perhaps you could choose one for me to speak. Afterwards you can tell us a story of your own choosing, if you wish."

She thought for a moment, having heard all his tales numerous times as she had grown up, and decided on her favourite. "Hahren, please tell the story of Shartan's army. The one about the elves that rose up out of bondage to help Andraste fight against the oppressive Tevinter Imperium."

The older elf smiled, knowing the tale was one of Liao's favourites, and proceeded to tell it. The children loved it because it had several battle scenes and it was one of the few tales that involved the elves being victorious against humans. Liao's companions found it interesting to hear the tale from the Dalish perspective, most of them had only vaguely known about the elves' assistance against the Tevinter Imperium. Very few of them realised that the elves played a crucial role in Andraste's victory or that the elves were not asked to convert from the worship of their gods to that of the Maker. The Dalish saw the events as a sad tale in the context of the rest of their history for it ultimately led to the loss of their second homeland in the Dales.

Afterwards, many of the children were clamouring for Liao to tell them everything about the world outside the Brecilian Forest. They wanted to hear every detail of the Wardens' fight against the darkspawn. She tried to assure them that it was a long tale and that they wouldn't get any decent sleep if she were to tell it in one sitting but this only encouraged them further. The adults were just as eager but they didn't voice their opinions as loudly as they young fledglings.

For the benefit of her companions, she started the story with the events that led her to joining the Wardens. Since she had recently discussed Tamlen's fate with the keeper and Ashalle, she found it much easier to retell what happened to him in the Tevinter ruins. She told of the mysterious mirror that Tamlen had touched and how it resonated with the nearby darkspawn and caused them to become sick with the taint. She spoke fondly of Duncan, the Grey Warden who had rescued her, even though at the time she harboured great anger towards him for his role in forcing her to leave her clan behind. Merrill and Fenarel, who had fought alongside Liao against the darkspawn in the ruins, offered a few words of commentary on the day that Tamlen was lost and Liao was taken away. They gave more gruesome descriptions of the darkspawn than Liao had.

She then told about the other Grey Wardens at Ostagar and the battle that took place there. She told of how they had been betrayed by Teyrn Loghain and how a witch named Flemeth had saved her and Alistair at the Tower of Ishal. By the time she got to Lothering, the children were already beginning to fight the symptoms of sleep, however, they were still anxious to hear more. Soup and a warm cider were passed around the circle of listeners to keep them awake. The fire was stoked a few more times and Liao was told to continue on. Many more hours passed before she finally told of the epic battle against the archdemon.

The Warden-Commander had conveniently left out the more personal bits of the story. The children were more interested in the battles anyway. Every now and again, Leliana or Wynne would offer a bit of extra embellishment to enhance the drama. Zevran kept mostly quiet and enjoyed hearing about the things that had happened before he had failed his miserable attempt to assassinate Liao. Nathaniel found that part particularly humorous. Anders was most excited by what happened at the Circle of Magi since he had been on escape attempt number six then and had only heard rumours about the abominations that Uldred had unleashed.

By the end of it all, Liao and everyone else was quite tired. It was a couple of hours before sunrise and the air around the camp had chilled off considerably. Everyone who was still awake at the end thanked her for sharing and asked her to give more detailed versions of the stories in the future. She reluctantly agreed to this though she didn't think she had much talent at storytelling. Because they were so tired, the humans and Liao rested by the fire until it was time for breakfast. The Dalish were excited to share their morning meal with them and everyone greeted the new day with high spirits.

The next morning, Liao awoke suddenly from a disturbing dream. She could feel sweat on her brow even though the room was quite cold. There was a subtle glow of light emitting from the fireplace where only a few smouldering embers were left burning. The young elf's heart was racing and her body shook with adrenaline but she couldn't understand the cause of it. She went to wipe the sweat from her face with her hand and brushed against a stream of tears around her eyes. 

Instinctively, she looked over at the other half of the bed for reassurance but it was empty except for a few twisted blankets and unused pillows. At that moment she felt utterly alone and helpless. The tears had begun to fall again and she didn't know why. The fuzzy haze of sleep still cluttered her head and she felt disoriented. Liao took in a deep breath and tried to calm her frantic mind. Suddenly she could remember every detail of the dream that had disturbed her sleep. 

She was wearing her strongest suit of hardened, leather armour and wielding a yew longbow with magicked arrows covered in ice sitting in her quiver. Mechanically, she tensed the bow string and unleashed several volleys of arrows at her foe. The foe was the swamp-witch, Flemeth, in the shapeshifted form of a dragon. As soon as the arrows met their target, the fiery-red coloured dragon transformed into the pearly white and purple dragon form of the high dragon that guarded Andraste's Temple. Before Liao could prepare her next shot, a horde of crazed darkspawn appeared out of no where. They surrounded the beautiful dragon and harassed it with their crude weapons. Its pearly scales blackened and her wings were covered in the same darkspawn ooze that had lined the walls of the Deep Roads. The high dragon had now become the Archdemon, in all its terrifying glory. 

The Archdemon was not interested in Liao yet, however. It focused its attention on the darkspawn at its feet and began to devour the very creatures that had created it. One by one, it ate the darkspawn as if they were a mere snack. They cried out in agony and shouted for mercy in human-like voices but Liao was not interested in their fate. She took advantage of the distraction and fired several arrows at the Archdemon who had its back turned to her. The arrows bounced off the dragon's skin as if they were mere pebbles. The Archdemon's body grew in size as it consumed more of the ill-fated darkspawn minions. It was almost as tall as Fort Drakon itself now and the Warden felt like a small insect in comparison. 

With desperation, Liao called out to her friends to aide her against the beast but there were no responses. She was alone atop a tower against the ever-growing Archdemon. Once the Archdemon had finished the last of the darkspawn off it focused its sights on Liao. It reared its immense neck back and roared an earth-shattering roar at the heavens. Liao tried to move away to find some cover to hide behind but her boots were rooted to the spot where she stood. She was completely vulnerable and defenceless in her current position. 

The Archdemon could have finished Liao off in an unceremonious fashion if it wanted to. It could have swiped at her with its long talons or flicked its thick, sturdy tail and pushed her off the tower. But it chose not to do those things. Instead, it wanted to eat Liao like it had done with the darkspawn. Just as the teeth were beginning to close around the helpless Warden, the dragon let out a loud wail and pulled back. The spit drowned the small elf as the dragon whisked its head around to see what had struck its impenetrable scales. Liao also looked around to see what had saved her and she was temporarily blinded by light that was reflecting off a suit of polished golden platemail. 

The man in the armour wore no helmet and she easily recognised his characteristic messy blond hair and fierce dark eyes. She tried to call out to him but no sound came out. He continued to slash and parry against the angered dragon, constantly staying one step ahead of the Archdemon's movements. At last he landed a blow where the creature's scaley neck met its upper torso. The Archdemon reared back in response to the attack but this allowed the sword's blade to sink deeper into the freshly cut wound. With a few more quick thrusts, the wound opened up further and red-black blood began to spill forth from it. The dragon heaved back and forth, staggering around in its weakened state, before it finally collapsed. The other Warden delivered a fatal blow by stabbing his sword downwards into the dragon's skull. 

At this point, Liao was able to to move her feet again. She ran as fast as she could towards the Archdemon's corpse. The battle had been brief but long enough to exhaust the other Warden's energy. She caught him as he was about to stumble back and tried to support him on his feet. With all his armour though, he was too heavy for her to carry and they both fell to the ground where the remains of the Archdemon laid. 

Liao held her saviour in her arms and tried to thank him but her voice was still gone. He looked as if he were about to respond but a strange light engulfed him. She knew what it meant, it was the Archdemon's soul trying to merge with a new body. She wanted to scream out or cry or something but nothing happened. When the light faded, she knew that he was gone. All that remained was his armour-clad body in her arms. She tried calling out again, tears formed in her eyes as she realised what had happened. The Warden's body began to crack and crumble as if it were made of stone and eventually nothing but ash covered her arms where he had once been. Liao, still unable to find her voice, only hugged herself tightly and despaired over her loss. 

A few moments later, another light appeared. It was a softer, eery light like she had seen in the Fade once before. A shape started to form in front of her, it was some sort of spirit. As she watched it closer, the shape became more defined. It eventually took the form of an elf. The tattoos on its face showed it was a Dalish elf. She recognised the facial features. 

"What have you done, lethallan?" came Tamlen's voice. 

"I've done nothing!" yelled Liao. She was surprised to hear her own voice. 

"How many men have died because of you?" he taunted her. 

"I.. don't know," Liao admitted. She knew many had lost their lives to the Archdemon, the darkspawn horde, and her own arrows over the course of events during the Blight. Had she been the one responsible for all those deaths though? 

"You've failed him. Just as you failed me," the Tamlen spirit accused her. 

"I haven't!" she protested angrily. But his words had struck her heart and she began to believe them. If she hadn't been so weak, she wouldn't have needed rescuing. Disappointed in herself and saddened by what had just happened, the Warden began to cry uncontrollably. 

"You're still nothing but a crying da'len," the spirit said the affectionate term with such bile and disgust. 

Liao didn't answer, she just continued to let the tears fall from her eyes. She yelled out and demanded that the Creators should give her a second chance. She couldn't imagine living with with so much heartache. Tamlen's spirit laughed at her until it finally disappeared. When it was gone, she was left alone with a complete, maddening silence. This is when she yelled out in the real world and work herself up. 

The elf's heart was heavy with grief and despair. She wanted someone to comfort her and tell her it was just a bad dream. What she wanted moved of all when she woke up was to be held by the one she loved. It had been only a week since she had seen Alistair off at Denerim but it was beginning to feel like years. With all the other business she had to deal with at the keep, she had barely a free moment to notice his absence. At night, when she couldn't drift off to a comfortable sleep, she had too much time to think about him. 

She hadn't started to have nightmares until now though. It unnerved her. The last time she had dreams with Archdemons in them they had been real. They were more of premonitions than they were dreams. Now she was worried, was it just a bad dream she had just had or was it something more sinister? It probably was the former but she wasn't entirely convinced. 

Liao got out of bed and walked over to a stone basin full of cool water. She splashed the water on her face a few times to thoroughly awaken her senses. There was no way that she would allow herself to go back to sleep after a dream like that. She dried her face and hands on a towel before walking over to the fireplace. She stoked the embers slightly and added a fresh pine log to the fire. It lit quickly and the resulting warmth comforted her slightly. 

Judging by the stillness and lack of light coming through the windows, Liao assumed it was still quite early in the morning. Nobody but the early shift of guards would be awake around at that hour. She sighed to herself. She was the Grey Warden-Commander and here she was looking for someone to tell her everything was alright. She could kill a real Archdemon but tackling bad dreams seemed to be beyond her capabilities. 

Liao decided she needed to focus her mind on something else for awhile. She meditated for an hour in front of the fireplace where she could hear the wood burning. It took her a great deal of effort to clear her mind of a multitude of distracting thoughts. Once she had centred herself and quieted the mental storm within her head, she could sense the pressure of negative emotions melting away. All of them disappeared except for her longing to be reunited with Alistair. 

As she was getting dressed and prepared for the day, she looked out the window that faced the northwest. Her room was was nearly at the top of the keep's highest tower and she view from its windows was expansive. She could see all the way to the bustling city of Amaranthine on the north side. On the other, opposite side, were the rolling hills of farmland that stretched out towards Denerim. To the west were high hills and mountains with roads carved into their bases. Travellers from Highever would only be visible once they were close to the keep, where the North Road met the Pilgrim's Path. Liao could see two riders in the distance riding along the North Road but it was too hard to tell which direction they were coming from. 

It was odd to see only two travellers travelling that length of road. Because of the long, open distance between Vigil's Keep and Highever, there were lots of opportunities for roving bands of bandits or poachers to hide amongst the hills. The roads were patrolled by local militias but not regularly enough. At first, Liao thought the pair may be outsiders, perhaps they were the Orlesian Grey Wardens that were supposed to have been sent from Val Royeaux. _But only two? Surely they would have sent more than that,_ she thought. The two horsemen were still too far away for her to judge who they might be. 

She thought little of the travellers and continued to get dressed. She was starting to get into the habit of wearing what she called "soft clothes". Anything that didn't involve pieces of leather armour or require some sort of combat equipment was considered to be normal attire. It certainly was more comfortable to wear more flexible and thin fabrics but the elf always felt slightly vulnerable. She always wore at least one of her ornate daggers in her belt, which didn't seem to upset anyone around the keep since all the guards wore sheathed longswords at all times. 

Once she had laced up her boots, she glanced out the northwestern window again. She could now tell the two horsemen were wearing platemail armour with their helmets slung over their backs. Only one of them carried a shield but they both were clearly fighting men given the other amount of equipment they wore and carried. As they road over the hilly road, Liao could make out a few more details. One was a bit older with short, dark hair and the other had short blond hair. Blond hair was very common throughout Ferelden but Liao still got slightly excited anyway. She could see the symbol on the younger man's shield: the grey griffon of the Grey Wardens. 

Liao knew it was him, though she never knew he knew how to ride a horse. During the Blight, horses had been in high demand but their numbers had been few due to the disease-carrying darkspawn in the region. They had spent the whole year walking around Ferelden and there had been no cavalry at the Battle of Denerim. It was somewhat unusual to see armoured men riding horses again. 

The Warden-Commander hurriedly ran out of her room and down the corridor towards the battlements where she could see more of the horizon. When she opened the wooden door that led onto the large balcony, she could see Seneschal Varel standing there observing his men as they went about their morning tasks. The sun was rising and birds were greeting the new day. The seneschal didn't turn around as Liao approached.

"Good morning, Commander," he greeted her when stopped to stand beside him.

"Good morning, Seneschal," she had wanted to call him by his first name but knew it wasn't proper when addressing someone of lower rank.

"It seems we will have more company today," he nodded in the direction of the North Road. At that moment she couldn't see either of the riders but she knew they had at least an hour's worth of ground to cover before they would arrive at the keep. "One of them looks like Fergus Cousland. I assume the other must be your fiancé."

"Yeah, I could see them from my window. Fergus Cousland you say? Maybe he is just escorting Alistair," she said thoughtfully.

"From the tales I have heard of the Wardens, I don't think any of them would require an escort," he laughed. He always seemed to be in a jovial mood.

"May I ask a personal question?" Liao was always eager to know the men and women she served with better. She had known all of her companions during the Blight very well but hadn't had a chance to get to know the officers at Vigil's Keep thoroughly yet.

"Sure," he responded casually.

"You've always served at Vigil's Keep, right? Have you ever...had any family or anything or has it always just been you on your own?" Liao asked.

"It's a fair question. I've never been married or had any children, if that's what you mean. I grew up in the city of Amaranthine and served under Arl Howe as soon as I was old enough to join the guards," he explained.

"Ah," Liao said simply. It was unusual for humans to not settle down into families as they aged from what she could tell. "Well, I'm going down to get some breakfast then before the boys arrive."

Liao's heart was racing, she felt adrenaline pumping through her veins as it did when she was preparing for battle. But this was not the feeling of fight or flight that one felt when they were in danger. Instead, it was a moment of apprehension and excitement. The young elf could barely sit still during her morning meal. On more than one occasion, her friends had asked her to calm down but she hadn't listened to their concerns.

It was an odd feeling to anticipate the arrival of someone so important to her. At the beginning of her journey as a Grey Warden, she had lost someone of great value. And yet, she had never noticed Tamlen's absence as keenly as she had Alistair's. Of course it was hard to compare the two since she had assumed Tamlen was dead due to his disappearance and there was no reason to worry about the safety of her fellow Grey Warden.

She finished breakfast in record time and made her way to the keep's stables. She wanted to be the first to greet him and didn't want to have to compete with anyone else trying to garner's attention. Ideally she wanted a moment alone with her fellow Warden but she didn't want to be rude to Fergus Cousland.

The two riders reached the stables at last and to Liao's slight annoyance a small crowd of guardsmen and local shop owners was forming to meet them. Fergus was the first of the pair to dismount and a few seconds later Alistair had graciously followed suit. Fergus looked at the other man with a noticeable expression of surprise.

"I suppose you do have more practice at getting out of the saddle than into it," the dark-haired teyrn laughed.

"Practice makes perfect, right?" was Alistair's casual response though he seemed slightly embarrassed by Fergus' implied comment.

"Must be a Theirin trait," Fergus concluded. He noticed Liao's eager expression as she waited patiently for one of the stablehands to lead the two horses away. The Teyrn of Highever nudged his companion in a playful manner, "I think someone wants to see you."

"Yes?" he said slyly to a rather shy Liao.

She hadn't wanted to create a scene in front of her guards and companions but she was so overjoyed by the young templar's familiar smile. When she took the few steps towards him, she had intended to give him a welcoming hug. Though their relationship status was public knowledge now, the two had rarely shown much physical affection for one another in front of others. Given Liao's rank, they had thought it best to keep things more modest in the open. They had only been engaged for about a week and had been separated for most of that time so it was strange to think about changing their old habits of discretion and decency.

Howeer, when the two embraced for the first time since Denerim, they no longer felt any concern about the proper rules of social protocol. The hugging quickly turned into a long kiss followed by cheers and whistles from the onlookers. Under normal conditions, Liao had drawing much attention to herself, but at that moment she felt safe and secured in the armoured arms of her fellow Grey Warden.

"Hello to you, too," He smiled afterwards as they pulled apart briefly. He still held her close enough without crushing her fragile form against the plates of his armour.

"Welcome home," she said softly.

"That it is. You wouldn't believe how relieved I am to be here," he said.

"Relieved to be here in one piece, no doubt," Fergus added. "If I had known you were such a bad rider, I would have gotten you a pony instead of my sister's race horse."

"I tried to warn you," Alistair said back. He was blushing slightly at Fergus' verbal jabs. The two seemed to be comfortable enough with one another to engage in such friendly banter.

"Did you boys have breakfast already?" Liao asked.

"Nope, and I'm starving so I hope that's an invitation," said Alistair.

"That's because I didn't want him to throw up along the way. But it would be rude to say no to a host's request," Fergus said. Liao led the pair across the short distance to the keep's front steps.

As they ascended the stone steps, Liao could see Anders and Nathaniel talking to one another in the foyer. She was about to call out to them in greeting but noticed Fergus had stopped suddenly. He had noticed the other Warden recruits as well and recognised Nathaniel the second he saw him.

"Nathaniel Howe," Fergus acknowledged the other man with a cool demeanour that was in stark contrast to his warm attitude only a few moments before.

"Oh, hello, Fergus," the rogue responded more cordially with a neutral expression.

"That's Teyrn Cousland to you," Fergus said bitterly under his breath.

"This won't end well," Alistair said quietly to Liao who had just remembered an important bit about recent Fereldan politics. She hadn't known why Fergus had decided to travel with Alistair and she didn't know the full extent of the story between the Couslands and the Howes. She did know, however, that Arl Rendon Howe had been a despicable man and Nathaniel now carried the burden of his father's crimes, whether he intended to or not.

"What is this traitor doing here?" Fergus demanded from her. Before she could respond, Nathaniel spoke up on her behalf.

"This is my home, I have every right to be here," Nathaniel said pointedly.

"You have no rights. You should have stayed out of Ferelden, we don't need your kind here," Fergus' expression was severe and his sword hand tensed near the sheathed longsword at his side.

"I'm under the protection of the Grey Wardens now," Nathaniel said more smugly than was necessary. He too was tense and Liao could see by his stance that he was preparing for a fight if it came down to it.

Fergus turned to look Liao in the eye and the elf couldn't help by shy away from his glare, "What? this man is responsible for the death of my wife and child. Why is he protected?"

"To be fair, those are Rendon Howe's crimes," Alistair tried to point out helpfully.

"He is a Warden recruit," Liao added simply, hoping she wasn't going to have to explain the circumstances that led to Nathaniel's recruitment right then.

"By the Maker, this is outrageous. The Howes are outcasts now," Fergus yelled in frustration.

"Times change," Nathaniel shrugged. He had little to say in his defence.

"Just keep your distance from me if you value your life, Howe," Fergus warned the man as he passed him.

Nathaniel said nothing in response but instead walked from the confrontation with his head held high. Anders followed after his friend down the hallway in an attempt to calm him down or to continue whatever conversation they had been having before the interjection. The rogue had appeared stoic and passive during the short exchange to Liao but she knew Anders was probably a lot closer to Nathaniel and would have more success at talking with him for the moment.

Within moments of entering the mess hall, servants began to busy themselves with clearing off tables and bestowing fresh plates full of a variety of breakfast dishes in their places . Despite the bright morning light filtering down from the high windows, torches were alight around the room, giving the large chamber a warm and inviting atmosphere. The large stone fireplace at the end of the hall remained unlit but several of the soldiers kept expectantly eyeing the structure's empty embrace. Autumn was rapidly turning into winter faster than anyone could have wanted it to. Empty fireplaces around Vigil's Keep were bound to become rare, unwarranted sights in the coming weeks.

The Teyrn of Highever was greeted by salutes and well-wishes from the Vigil's guards and soldiers as he passed by them. He managed to return every gesture that was made to him with a stern smile. By the time he had reached the ornate officer's dining table to sit down, the smile on his face had managed to linger. The expression seemed to have replaced the infuriating one had given Nathaniel Howe not too long before.

Fergus Cousland both looked and played the part of a nobleman who knew how to properly run a considerable amount of Freeholder land, something Liao immediately began to both admire and envy about him. The men and women who served at Vigil's Keep had respected her out of adoration and hero worship, not because she had done anything substantial in the arling to garner such prestige. The commonfolk and most of the other nobles in Amaranthine were less willing to trust their new Arlessa than the neighbouring Teyrn. After all, she wasn't even a commoner but was just some fortunate Dalish who had managed to inherit more than her means. Liao would have to ask Fergus later how he managed to win over the people so easily and how he managed to go about it without appearing arrogant or heavy-handed. He seemed to put no effort at all into winning everyone's respect and trust.

At the dining table, the boys wasted no time in piling their plates full of anything within their reach. Eggs, sausages, breads and fried tomatoes stuff with cheese (where were high on Liao's list of favourite foods) were all at hand. Fergus was more picky and fussy about his selections and showed much better table manners than Alistair. Liao couldn't blame her fellow Warden, after living as they had during the Blight, moving from one remote campsite in the middle of no where to another on a frequent basis, it was somewhat hard to readjust to the small luxuries of civilisation. Not only was there fresh cutlery and dining plates to eat off of, but there was no need to be so conservative about how much food one was allowed to enjoy. The servants of the keep were busy preparing and serving dishes at a faster rate than they could be consumed. This rapid output of meals seemed to suit Alistair's insatiable appetite just fine.

"You really should slow down there," Fergus said with mock concern while he delicately approached his own meal. "You'll make everyone think I've starved you over the past week."

"No offense, but you kind of have," was Alistair's response. He was busy preparing some sort of breakfast sandwich which was threatening to fall apart within in his hands at any moment. Fergus looked slightly offended and made a grand gesture with his fork to contrast with the templar's more barbaric approach to eating. Alistair responded in kind by masterfully shoving half of the messy sandwich creation, complete with dribbling egg yolk along the way, into his mouth.

"My sister's cooking wasn't _that _bad," the teyrn frowned for a second then began to chuckle as it become apparent that Alistair had literally bitten off more than he could chew.

"How is your sister, by the way?" Liao, who was sitting just opposite of Fergus and next to Alistair, inquired in an attempt to give the other Warden a chance to compose himself.

"Merilyn? She's doing alright. As alright as one can be doing after losing so much," Fergus poked at some sausages that were going cold on his plate absently and avoided Liao's gaze, "Highever just doesn't feel the same any more. For either of us. She's coping better than I expected and certainly better than I am. That's part of why I decided to come here, to Amaranthine, actually."

"Oh?" Liao asked with mild interest.

"I've decided to give my teyrnship to Merilyn. She's the next in line for it anyway." Fergus said casually.

"Is it common for an older sibling to give up their inheritance so willingly? And why would you want to?" Liao was by no means an expert on the duties that came along with being an arl or a teyrn in Ferelden nor on how the hierarchies of power functioned. She was, however, certain that people that filled those roles in society were expected to take their positions seriously. She knew little of Fergus on an individual level but even to her untrained eye it was hard to ignore all the mannerisms and nuances that indicated he had been born, raised, and bred as a nobleman. If he was willing to turn his back on his duty and obligation given to him by birthright, there had to have been a good reason for it. Highever was certainly in need of rebuilding and leadership, moreso than usual.

"It's not unheard of, but no, not very common," he answered Liao's question. "As to the reason behind it, I don't know if now-"

"Fergus wants to become a Grey Warden," Alistair interjected, managing to get the words out in between mouthfuls as he continued to devour through the morning meal. Fergus gave him a warning glance that managed to discourage the other man from interrupting for a few more minutes.

"What, really?" Liao asked with surprise. She was now beginning to notice how much older Fergus was than herself but he seemed to be physically capable and strong, judging by his armour and the way he carried himself.

"I wasn't going to put it quite so bluntly, but yes, what he says is true," Fergus looked up at Liao who had a seemingly bored expression from watching the two men eat. He indicated to a passing servant that he was finished and his plate was whisked away. Just before he could continue the discussion, a few more people began to join the group of three at their table.

Leliana and Wynne had finally made their way out of their beds and said a few "hellos" and "good mornings" before digging into the small feast. The morning shift of guards had finished their meals and had started their patrols so overall the room felt vast and empty, minus the one dining table where Liao's friends gathered. A few minutes after the women had approached, Captain Garevel pulled up a chair and joined the small group, followed closely by the mage, Anders, who had entered the room from another entrance.

Liao noted that Anders had entered the room alone and couldn't recall if she had seen Nathaniel having his morning meal earlier that morning or not. When asked about his whereabouts, Anders just said that the other recruit wanted to be left alone for the time being and left the matter at that. The mage seemed more interested in meeting everyone and offered little opinion on the exchange between Nathaniel and Fergus that had transpired earlier.

"Good morning, Anders," Liao greeted him and motioned for him to take the empty chair beside her.

"Good morning to you, Commander. I trust you slept well last night?" he asked politely as he accepted her invitation.

"Could have been better, but thanks for asking," as she answered him she caught a questioning glance from Alistair who was trying to work out who the mage was and why he spoke to Liao with such familiarity, "Oh, right. Anders, this is Alistair, another Grey Warden and my fiance. That's Teyrn Fergus Cousland of Highever who apparently is no longer the teyrn and is also a Grey Warden recruit. And this, obviously, is Anders, formerly a Circle mage and now one of our recruits." She indicated each individual as she introduced them.

"Pleased to meet you," Fergus nodded in Anders' direction.

"Finally, I was beginning to wonder when I'd get to meet you," Anders said to Alistair and offered his hand in greeting across Liao who sat between the two.

"What has she said?" Alistair asked, giving Liao a suspicious look.

"Not much really, but from what I have gathered from others you're quite the popular figure around here. I'd also wager your one of the luckiest men in all of Ferelden to be marrying the Commander of the Grey. She's quite the catch," Anders said enthusiastically.

Alistair grinned and shook the mage's hand, "Indeed she is." Liao merely blushed at all the attention. To her he said, "So, that's two recruits for you, one for me. Not bad. You've certainly been busy lately."

"Actually, three for me," she corrected him. "Zevran wants to undergo the Joining also."

"You are relentless, I'll never catch up! Wait, what? Has he injured his head or something? You didn't tell him yes did you?" Alistair's expression was one of confusion and shock. He had never grown to trust the would-be assassin that had been sent to stop Liao and himself during the Blight but had had no reason to doubt Liao's judgement of his character over the months that had followed.

"Why wouldn't I? We need to rebuild our forces and I'll take any seasoned fighters that I can," she defended her decision patiently.

"I know that, but.. Zevran? I thought we'd have higher standards than that," he sighed. "But then again, you are the one in charge around here. If you really think it's for the best.."

"I think it shows the quality of Liao's leadership that she is choosing to recruit experienced fighting men first. It will give the fresher recruits later something to aspire towards and can help flesh out the new chain of command," Fergus added his opinion to the matter.

"Right. So how did you end up here, Anders?" Alistair directed the question towards the mage who had just become distracted by a tabby cat that had decided to help itself to the scraps of food on the table. Liao noticed Leliana giggling and luring the small animal towards her with the promise of a small piece of bacon but the animal was more transfixed on the pats it was being promised from Anders.

"Is that the same cat from Amaranthine?" Liao asked incredously as she tried to place where she had seen the ginger markings across it's scrawny form before.

"I don't think so, but maybe it is. Maybe he's been following me," Anders said. Leliana managed to entice the kitten away from him for a bit and with his attention less distracted he finally acknowledged Alistair's inquiry, "I met Liao in Amaranthine a few days ago. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, as it turns out. The Commander was very persuasive, not that I needed much convincing. And then I ended up here, just like that."

"Just like that, huh?" Alistair sounded doubtful and could tell there was more to the story than that.

"Which reminds me," Liao was trying to skirt around having to explain Anders' complete recruitment story in front of everyone so she continued onwards with a different conversation topic, "The Chantry wasn't thrilled with my request. They won't let a non-Andrastian marry in their chantry."

"That doesn't make any sense. You hear about surface dwarves being married in chantries all the time and they don't worship the Maker," Alistair pointed out.

"And you're their local Arlessa. The Chantry does not often take an opposing stance to their local governments. If you need my or Merilyn's support, just say so, Liao," Fergus offered helpfully.

"I appreciate the offer but I don't want to create a fuss over it, honestly. Anyway, Keeper Marethari has agreed to perform the Dalish bonding ritual. It'll need to be done within the week while the new moon is still in the sky. It's part of our tradition. She is altering the ceremony a great deal to meet our circumstances," explained the commander.

"That's very kind of her," said Alistair who had managed to lose his train of thought regarding Anders. "I don't know anything about Dalish customs so I assume it's a good thing anyway."

"Don't worry, I'll give you a run-down of the details later. It's a very simple affair but the Keeper does wish to keep the actual ceremony private, to maintain our secrets you see. I hope none of you will mind but this is how it must be done. We can still celebrate afterwards, as I believe that is what is the custom with a human ceremony as well," suggested the young Commander to her gathered friends.

"Of course, we do not wish to compromise your heritage and traditions. I'm still a bit surprised by the Revered Mother's response though. Surely she knows that the Maker smiles upon all His children, both the believers and the non-believers," Wynne added herself to the conversation at last, having finished her meal and losing Leliana's attention to the small feline.

"Yes, about that," Zevran spoke up, having just joined the gathering without anyone being aware that he had approached the group at all, "Something isn't right there. And I intend to find out more about it."

"Don't trouble yourself, I really don't mind," Liao sighed with exasperation. If she had still been living amongst her clan and were marrying another Dalish, there whole business of bonding would have been more straightforward and easy. There would have been little planning needed and the ceremony would have been conducted and over with before anyone could try and raise concerns over it. The humans were fans of lavish pampering and pompous ceremonies, however, and their stubbornness made the process so much more convoluted than it needed to be. Atop all that, Liao was a humble elf overall and wasn't accustomed to people making a big deal over her. She had been in charge of ending the Blight, not anyone else, and she had grown accustomed to be in control of any situation that involve her input.

"When did you get here?" Anders asked the elven assassin, seemingly surprised by how he had managed to drop in on them so easily.

"Just now, obviously. Where's Nathaniel?" the Antivan elf asked.

"I think he was headed towards the archery range, last I saw of him," the mage responded. Fergus appeared to ignore the exchange about the Howe by striking up conversation with Alistair ate the other end of the table. Zevran left as quickly as he arrived and everyone proceeded to go about their own business for the morning.

Later in the afternoon, Liao stumbled across Zevran who was alone in one of the storehouses where various archery and training equipment was stored. The small room was lined with weapon racks that held onto wooden or metal blades with dulled edges and various sizes of shields made out of similar materials. There were several crates near the door full of the type of wood used in arrow fletching and several more full of metal arrow-heads that had already been shaped on the anvil. Often when Liao felt she needed to pass the time by or wished to be alone with her thoughts for a time, she enjoyed working with her hands. Even if her quiver was full one could never have too many arrows and the process of fletching had been second-nature to her since she had been a fledgling so it required little effort or focus, leaving her mind free to wander.

"What are you doing here, Zev?" Liao asked the other elf as she poked her head in through the door to grab a handful of fletching materials. The room was just big enough for the two of them with a minimal amount of space for movement.

"Hm? Oh, Nate and I were firing a few rounds earlier. Was just dropping off these extra quivers," the Antivan explained, then added with a quizzical expression, "Odd place to run into you. Figured you'd be pretty busy today with all of your wedding plans and what not."

"There's plenty of time to work out the details, besides a Dalish ceremony isn't very elaborate. We like to keep things simple and efficient," she said casually, noticing he was making no indication that he was interested in leaving the room despite his task being completed. It wasn't exactly an ideal place to hang out or have a conversation.

"Yes, well. Don't you have some human fiancé to go entertain or something then?" he said the words with more bitterness than he had wanted but didn't regret the way they sounded once they were out in the open.

"Oh, so it's time for that conversation is it?" Liao made her way through the doorway and dropped her own quiver and bow against the far wall, preparing herself for the inevitable discussion. There was no sense in expecting a peaceful moment alone with her tools now.

Zevran only raised an eyebrow in response and crossed his arms across his chest. He leaned comfortably back against the wall opposite her but was still within her reach given the tight quarters. It seemed like he wasn't trying too hard to escape or avoid close proximity of the issue at hand.

"Well, go ahead, tell me what's on your mind. You've never been so shy about talking about yourself or your opinions before, no need to start now. I can't read your mind. Not that I'd want to if I could," the elven commander said flatly, trying to keep her tone neutral. She assumed a similar carefree pose with her arms crossed, not in attempt to mock him but to show her indifference.

"Is that how little my thoughts are worth to you now? Good to know where we stand," a dark shadow passed over his brown eyes, making them seem more sinister than Liao was used to.

"That's not what I meant-" she began.

"Of course it wasn't," he cut her off and waved his hand dismissively. He sighed and looked at the ground for a moment before returning his glance to Liao's perplexed expression. Their eyes locked for a moment and he lost himself for a brief second in her mysteriously green orbs, catching his own reflection and realising there was no running away from the truth.

"I love you, Liao," he blurted out without preamble, the words stumbling out before he had time to think about the best way to say it.

"What." her heart sank, somehow she knew it was what he'd say but she had long wished it to be anything but those words. She had hoped maybe he had decided he didn't want to be a Grey Warden after all or that he had decided to return to the White Crows in Antiva or that he had made some foolish mistake of some kind and needed her forgiveness or assistance. Now that she thought back on it, he had began to avoid her just after her engagement in Denerim. How could she not have noticed that before? She knew he would be unsettled by her decision to marry but she had assumed the disagreement would have been that it was too soon to commit herself to a man she had only been in a relationship with for a short period of time. Or that the other man was a human and a fellow Grey Warden. The idea that Zevran had feelings for her was an utter surprise and she now wondered how long he had harboured them and why he had kept them hidden from her for so long.

"You heard me," he said, offering no further clarification.

"Why are you telling me this now? How long have you felt..this way?" the neutral tone of voice was rapidly turning into one of confusion with a hint of anger.

"Should I wait until after the ceremony to tell you then? It doesn't matter how long I've felt like this," he said coolly.

"No, you could have told me months ago when we were, you know..." she let the thought hang in the air.

"When we were having sex you mean? No need to be so modest. It happened, it wasn't so bad that it's worth forgetting. Was it? I certainly didn't think so. If I recall, you rather enjoyed it as well," he was still looking directly at her and his stare made her blush as the thoughts of their time together began to cross Liao's mind. They weren't bad memories at all but they hadn't meant much to her before so she had managed to bury them as her life had taken her in another direction. She turned her head to look away, lest she let herself be captured by his passionate glares. "I suppose I could have said so sooner but the truth is, I only just realised it. You know the old saying: 'You never know what you have until it's gone.' Or maybe you don't, but anyway, it's quite true. At least in this instance."

"I thought you told me it was impractical for assassins to fall in love and you reassured me countless times that there was no 'relationship' between us other than friendship. If I had known how you felt back then, I..I could have done something about it," Liao held out her hands and shrugged, feeling completely at a loss with how to react. There had been a brief period of time during her sexual relationship with Zevran where she had developed the beginnings of feelings for him but she had forced herself not to fall for the coy assassin who had only months prior tried to kill her. It was both out of self-preservation and the trusting of his words about love and how useless it was that she protected herself from letting her emotions get in the way of things. She thought she had been protecting him too, but apparently that was not so.

"It's_ not _practical and the last time it happened to me it ended badly, if you recall. But the fates have a twisted sense of humour, no? I swore I'd not fall in love again but here I am. I can no longer hide from it. That's why it took so long for me to decide if I wanted to remain at your side to become a Grey Warden and it's why I have taken so long to tell you the truth. I didn't want to believe my own heart but there's no more denying it," he said quietly.

"Zev, I'm so sorry. Surely you know nothing can become of this," she apologised, feeling genuine sorrow for the rejection she was having to give her closest friend. If the tables had been turned, she'd not have taken it nearly as well as he was.

"I wasn't expecting to change your mind," he protested defensively though she had made no attack, "But don't you think you're rushing blindly into things here? You're a very talented and strong woman, we all know this. Your strategies on the battlefield are flawless, but your decisions in other matters leave much to be desired."

"Now you just sound jealous. Is that what this is about?" she asked. To her surprise, he moved closer to her, putting his hands on her shoulder for emphasis and looked directly into her eyes again.

"Not jealous, no. But I care about you, a great deal. I don't want to see you get hurt, Liao. Many men and women rush into marriage when they have confused lust for love. You are not immune to this. Are you sure this is what you want?" his grasp was firm enough that she could not escape him physically or verbally.

"There's nothing I've ever been more sure about," she said simply, her face was no only inches away from his and she wished she could slink away from the dejected look on his face. It wasn't fair that she was now in the position of deciding his happiness. Hadn't she spent the past year helping all of her companions with their individual personal problems when she was supposed to be helping a nation fight off an invasion of darkspawn? Everyone counted on her to make things bearable. She had expected a bit more from the one she deemed to be her closest friend but here he was in front of her, begging her to deny the one thing that she wanted for herself.

"Does he truly make you so happy? What about all the times we had together? Surely he cannot outperform someone such as myself," he asked. "Be honest with me, I need to know."

"Are you worried about my feelings or are you just interested in comparing your sexual prowess with another lover? Is that all you men care about, competing against each other?" she asked incredously, feeling hurt by the sudden shift in Zevran's concerns. _I deserve being hurt though, I've only done the same to him, _she bitterly reminded herself.

"Don't answer me with more questions, that's not fair," his tone was sad and distant and his brown eyes bore heavily into her dark green ones.

"He does make me happy, yes. And if you must know, the sex is better but that's probably because we are actually in love and decided to have a proper relationship instead of simply sneaking off for a quick tryst at odd times," she said with the utmost honesty. It was also an accusation at how shallow the relationship with Zevran had been, even if had been physically enjoyable, but he seemed to take no offense to this.

He actually smirked at this revelation, "That's not love, my dear. That's elven sensitivity. There's no way someone so inexperienced could perform on my level within a handful of months. Pleasure of that magnitude takes years to master."

"What do you mean by 'elven sensitivity'?" she inquired.

"You don't know? Perhaps it is not such common knowledge here in the south. Elven men and women respond more sensitively to sex with non-elves than they do with other elves. It's part of our biological differences, you see. There's more that sets us apart than the shape of our ears. This is part of why elven slaves are preferred over humans. Why else do you think elves would have wanted to interbreed with humans originally? Humans were inferior in every way to the immortal elves of Arlathan, there was no other reason to associate with them besides this," he said matter-of-factly.

"What, you don't think being trained as a templar and a Grey Warden for one's entire life can't build up a bit of strength and endurance that might be more useful than simply as a tool for combat? You _are_ jealous," she said harshly, annoyed with the direction the conversation was going in. Her sexual life was private and Zevran should have known better than to delve into it.

"I'm not!" he said defiantly, anger showing in his face. "I will not be so easily usurped by some Chantry boy."

"You don't have a choice in the matter," Liao pointed out. Zevran only tightened his grip on her shoulders, not enough to hurt her, but enough that it made her uncomfortable.

"Please, give me another chance, Liao. Don't you miss my techniques, the way my fingers felt against your skin, the way they melted the stress away from your weary body? Not every man in Ferelden can perform an Antivan massage as thoroughly as I. You used to go mad for it, sometimes even begging for my touch," as he spoke the words he had leaned in closer, whispering directly into her ear and she could feel his warm breath teasing her senses. She hesitated long enough for him to pin her more closely to the wall and she mentally cursed herself for allowing the adept assassin an opportunity to get so close.

"Don't make this more difficult than it already is," she whispered but he ignored her protest. He was the only person she trusted and confided in as a friend besides her fiancé. She had no intention of trampling over his fragile feelings but neither could she give him what he desired.

Her body's response was beginning to make up her mind for her, however, and she felt physically and mentally conflicted. She could feel his soft lips pressing delicately against the erogenous zone around her left ear and she gasped slightly with a mixture of surprise and mild elation. With one swift motion he managed to wrap one of his arms around her mid-torso and lift her effortlessly off her feet and against the bare wall. With his free hand was rapidly undoing the fasteners on the front of his tunic. Too rapidly for Liao's comfort and she felt herself rapidly losing any control in the situation.

"Zev, you're not proving anything like this. Please stop," she said softly. She wasn't afraid that he would hurt her but rather that she would succumb to his direct advances and make a terrible mistake.

"Words aren't enough, I need to show you how I feel. Trust me," he began to kiss the nape of her neck affectionately while his hands busied themselves with other tasks. One hand reached for the buttons on the front of her blouse while the other gently caressed her lower regions. Liao mentally kicked herself for not wearing her usual ensemble of leather gear that would have made his advances far more difficult.

"I'm getting married in three days!" she shouted at him in case he had managed to forget that important bit of information.

Again he ignored her. The elven commander decided she was going to have to do something drastic but her body warned her that the sensations were beginning to feel nice and pleasurable. It had been quite sometime since she slept with Zevran and he had been right that no one could touch her the way he could.

Her mind then wandered to the memory of the first night she had lain with Alistair, the same evening he had given her that rose and bore his soul to her. The entire experience had been euphoric for both of them, not just the actual bit that had involved sex. Zevran had never made her feel so important and he certainly hadn't needed her in the same way.

"I'm sorry," she said again but as she suspected Zevran only ignored the words. She pulled her knees up under her and with a great effort pushed him away from her, drawing her daggers as she did so to warn him from trying again.

The other elf tumbled gracelessly backwards and hit the opposing wall with a loud thud. He collapsed onto some open crates and before he could return to his feet, the door of the storage room opened slightly. Liao hid her daggers behind her back but Zevran had already noted that she was wielding them.

"Oh, hello, didn't think anyone would be in here. I don't suppose you've seen an orange tabby in here by chance?" Anders poked his head into the darkened room and looked around.

"Nope, haven't seen him," Liao said casually.

"Right, ok, well if you do see him, be sure to call him by his name: Sir Pounce-A-Lot," he said jovially, oblivious to the scene he had just walked in on.

"That's a ridiculous name," Zevran groaned, evidently not having fully recovered from his fall.

"That's exactly what Nathaniel said," Anders said, stroking his chin casually, "Anyway, I'll leave you two alone then. Thanks anyway." He began to close the door and just as Liao was sighing with relief, he opened again for a moment, "Is everything alright here?"

"Everything's fine. Just leave us alone, ok?" Liao said tartly, still trying to get a handle on what had just happened and not paying enough attention to how she had addressed Anders.

"Sorry. Going now!" this time the door stayed close for good and Liao began to feel guilty for how she had spoken to the recruit.

"Aren't you just a bucket of laughs today?" Zevran said as if reading her mind.

She merely glared at him and sheathed her daggers as a sign of goodwill. She did not, however, offer Zevran a hand while he struggled to stand up again.

"Alright, you've made your point," he said finally though he refused to meet her glance.

"What of becoming a Grey Warden? Are you still going through with that? I don't want things to be too awkward between us," she said simply.

"A bit late for that, isn't it? Anyway, yes, I was serious when I said I wanted to become a Warden. Maybe if we're lucky the Joining will just put me out of my misery, eh?" he sounded like a defeated man.

"Don't talk like that, I still want you around if you can accept that nothing more can happen between us. When a Dalish bonds with her husband, it is a lifetime commitment. There's no divorce or betrayal between bond-mates. I hope you understand that, I will not break my vows for you or anyone else. No matter how important you are to me," she explained calmly.

He bowed his head in surrender, "I understand. But if you ever _do_ decide to change your mind, you'll know where to find me." With that, he left her alone in the small room at last without any apology for his actions. Suddenly Liao didn't have much interest in fletching arrows any more so she picked up her bow and quiver and retired to her bedchamber for the rest of the day.


End file.
